A Whole New World
by Goth Albino Angel
Summary: Sequel to THE ASSASSIN COMES. If you haven't read that one, it tells everything that's been happening until this point.
1. Chapter 1

**New story guys, this is the sequel to The ASSASSIN COMES so it picks up where that one left off. Check it out for me eh?**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Nine Lives of Chloe King no matter how much I want to.**

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**Chapter one**

Chloe groaned as she looked around. The living room had been blown up as a bomb flew through the window. Glancing around, Chloe saw everyone huddled down to the floor, trying to avoid the explosion.

"Mom? Jasmine? Amy? Is everyone ok?"

Amy slowly lifted her head and looked around groggily. "Bombs?" she said slowly. "That's new."

Chloe rubbed her eyes and saw her mom huddled underneath Valentina. Chloe raised an eyebrow at this, but said nothing, instead looking around for Felina and Jasmine. It seems that Jasmine was halfway to Chloe and Felina was halfway to Jasmine when they collided and fell to the ground as the bomb went off. Chloe crawled over and tapped Felina's shoulder. The other Mai jumped up instantly and looked around.

"Is everyone alright?" she asked.

"I think so." Meredith said, climbing from under Valentina and rubbing her head.

"Jasmine?" Chloe asked, nudging the other girl. Jasmine didn't move and Chloe's shaking became more insistent. After a few more moments of no responses, Jasmine moaned and slowly sat up.

"Is everyone alright?" she asked slowly, her speech slurred slightly.

"Are YOU alright?" Chloe asked her as Jasmine stood and swayed on her feet.

"Of course." Jasmine replied before pitching forward and slumping to the ground. Chloe caught her before her head hit the ground and saw a piece of metal embedded in Jasmine's side, just under her ribcage.

"Oh no." the blonde murmured in horror.

She set Jasmine down and slowly pulled the metal piece out before tearing a portion of her shirt off and covering the wound. It continued to bleed so Chloe took off the rest of her shirt and ripped Jasmine's shirt away. She pressed her shirt to the gash and used Jasmine's hairband to keep the fabric in place. Chloe sighed in relief as the bloodflow was blocked and looked up at the others. They were staring at her with wide eyes and Chloe frowned.

"Ok, three of the five of you have seen me half naked before so what's up with you?"

"You moved so fast." Paul muttered.

"You were a blur." Amy added.

"I've never seen you move like that." Meredith breathed.

Chloe shrugged, unsure of what to say and wondering why Felina was giving her such an intense look. She looked down at Jasmine and found that the girl was still healing, the bloodflow had stopped, but she still needed to heal for a bit.

"I think she'll be ok. Maybe." Chloe stood and wiped her hands on her jeans. "Other than Jasmine, is anyone hurt?" she asked slowly. Everyone shook their heads, still wide-eyed.

Valentina strode forward and checked Jasmine over herself before nodding to Chloe. "You should probably go and get a new shirt on. Could you bring Jasmine a shirt as well?"

Chloe nodded and headed to Jasmine's room. Getting a shirt out of the second drawer, Chloe fished a tank top from her night bag and put it on. She carried Jasmine's shirt back out to the living room and handed it to Valentina. The tan woman nodded to her in thanks and slowly woke her daughter. Jasmine jumped up into a fighting crouch, but fell to her knees at the pan in her side.

"Stay calm for now, Jasmine." Valentina told her almost gently. "You need to get your shirt on."

"Why was my shirt off?" Jasmine asked thickly, not quite comprehending everything around her yet.

"Because you were bleeding and Chloe had to tear your shirt in order to get the blood to stop."

Valentina handed Jasmine the shirt and the tan girl deftly slid it on. Chloe couldn't help but watch the fluid movements with which the girl moved and how her tan skin was so smooth apart from the faint scars from the whip and the new scar from the metal piece. Chloe shivered and looked away as Jasmine turned to her.

"Are you hurt?" the tan girl asked, her speech better now that she wasn't bleeding.

Chloe nodded. "I didn't get hit with anything." She said, shrugging. Jasmine nodded.

"We have to leave here." She said. "It's not safe for any of us."

The others nodded, but Amy asked, "Where will we go?"

"My place." Felina replied. "It's big enough and they don't know where it is." Jasmine nodded to her and led the others out the door.

"We'll take Amy's and Meredith's cars," she said. "We need to make stops at Chloe's house, Amy and Paul's houses and then me and Mom can come back here and get our stuff."

"Why not get it now?" Paul asked.

"Because they could still be waiting to attack." Jasmine explained. "We'll come back when Mom thinks it's safe."

Valentina nodded and stood protectively in front of Meredith as they made their way down the stars.

"Another question." Paul said. "Why are we taking the stairs"

"They could have sabotaged the elevator and made us fall to our deaths." Jasmine told him matter-of-factly. They hurried to the two cars and the three Mai listened before deeming them bomb free.

"Let's go before they attack again." Amy said, taking Felina, Valentina and Paul in her car, while Chloe and Jasmine rode with Meredith. The two groups separated, heading to their separate destinations so that they could meet back up at the apartment.

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**_There you go guys, first chapter of the second story. I'm thinking there are going to be three so that it's a trilogy... One is Chloe and Jasmine meeting Felina, Two is Chloe, Jasmine and Felina facing the Order and Three is Chloe, Felina and Jasmine uniting the Mai prides. Review the chapter, tell me what you think._**


	2. Chapter 2

**_Ok, here's chapter two for those of you who have been waiting. Thanks to Nightfire87 for your review and I hope you all like this chapter._**

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**Chapter two**

They were in Felina's underground home, underneath the streets of San Francisco; even lower than the sewers. Chloe watched Felina and Jasmine talk about what they were to do about the Order hunting them.

"Well, we'll have to leave as soon as possible." Felina said simply.

"But do we have enough money for seven people to go from San Francisco to New York, Ukraine, São Paulo, Russia, and Hong Kong? Not to mention Spain, France and Nigeria?"

Felina nodded and led the two girls to a hidden room, twisting a knob to reveal a large safe filled with a lot of money. Chloe and Jasmine's eyes widened.

"Where did you get all this?" Chloe asked in awe.

"I was an assassin and I usually had to kill rich people. I got to keep whatever I wanted and I knew that I would someday need the money if I needed to go into hiding. This should be enough to get us to all of those different places and pay for necessities as well."

Jasmine nodded, looking around at the money stacked high around her.

"So we should go start making plans for planes then." Chloe said as they all stepped out of the safe. Felina nodded and led them to a high tech computer room. The three of them set about looking through the different flight times and prices. Jasmine took Nigeria, Ukraine, and France, Felina took Spain, São Paulo, and Hong Kong, and Chloe merely looked for Russia and New York. At last, they had all they needed and wrote it down, taking it back to Valentina and Meredith.

"We'll leave as soon as possible." Valentina nodded to them as she stored the information in her pocket.

"Do we all have passports?" she asked. Everyone nodded. "Good, does everyone have everything needed for long trips?"

Again, everyone nodded. "Let's get a good night's rest and then head to the airport in the morning. Our first destination will be New York and trust me, it's going to be the hardest place we look through."

The others dispersed to different rooms. Amy and Paul were bunking together, as were Meredith and Valentina, while Felina shared a room with Chloe and Jasmine. The three Mai settled into their beds that night but only two drifted to sleep.

The third tossed and turned in her bed before standing and walking out, looking through a small hole in the ceiling at the moonlight streaming through. Felina remembered how her mother said that she should always travel at night since no one would see her then and she would be able to move freely without interruption. Sighing, the cat woman hung her head at the thought of what her father would think of her now. Once an assassin turned soft to work with the person she was supposed to kill.

_He would surely be ashamed of me now._ She thought sadly.

Suddenly, a hand came down on her shoulder and Felina grabbed it, flipping the person it belonged to in front of her and slamming them into the ground at her feet. It took Felina a moment to realize that it was an agonized Chloe lying before her and not someone sent by William to track and kill her.

"Chloe?" she asked quietly. "Did I hurt you too badly?"

"No," Chloe choked out, seemingly winded. "I think you just snapped a whole lot of my crooked vertebrae back into place, that's all. And maybe gave me quite a bit of whiplash."

Felina sighed. "You shouldn't sneak up on an ex-assassin. I'm still as dangerous as before."

Chloe nodded. "Gonna take that into account now." She said as she slowly stood up.

"What are you doing awake?" Felina asked. "You need to sleep."

"I could say the same for you." Chloe said, looking at her. "Why aren't you asleep?"

Felina shrugged. "I can go four weeks straight without sleep before it actually begins bothering me so I wouldn't mind much. You, on the other hand, need your sleep."

Chloe glared at her. "Am I the only Mai that needs sleep? What is with you people? I swear, you and Jasmine are going to stay awake longer than you can handle and then right in the middle of a battle you're both going to just drop down and start sleeping."

Felina laughed. "That's actually very good imagery, Chloe, thank you. I believe I feel much better now." Chloe cocked her head to the side as she looked at the Mai before her.

"You switch a lot." She murmured.

"What do you mean?" Felina asked.

"You switch a lot between being formal and being normal."

"I was raised to be very formal by my mother while we were on the streets of Spain. But, I got to San Francisco and found out that formality got me nowhere in this city, so I dropped the formality for a few years and now I can't figure out which one I want to be around you."

"Just be you." Chloe said, moving closer. "Just be Felina."

Felina nodded and gazed down at the Uniter for a moment. "Your eyes." She said, leaning just a bit closer to examine them before moving away slightly. "They are the strangest shade of blue I've ever seen. I've seen many shades of blue eyes, but never as bright and deep as yours."

Chloe smiled. "I guess they darkened over time because my mom told me that they were extremely light when I was little."

Felina nodded, still staring into Chloe's eyes. The two turned at the sound of footsteps and found Jasmine looking around. The tan girl surveyed their positions and how close they were and Felina could see the gears moving in her head. Moving swiftly away from Chloe, Felina held up her hands.

"Jasmine…"

Jasmine's shoulders stiffened as she gazed at Felina with hard, yellow eyes. Shaking her head, Jasmine turned on her heel and strode away. Felina growled under her breath as she watched Jasmine's retreating back.

"I'll be back Chloe. I should probably go talk to her." Felina left Chloe standing by the shaft of moonlight and followed Jasmine through the tunnels. She found the tan girl sitting in a dark dank corner huddled in on herself.

"Why come here?" Felina asked slowly.

"So that my mother wouldn't find me and think me weak." Jasmine spat through gritted teeth.

"Jasmine please, I wasn't doing anything with Chloe, I swear. I was merely commenting on her eyes."

"Oh yes, wonderful, aren't they? How they reel you in with the comfort and warmth of a hot bath and then stab you in the back like icicles. I've fallen for them too many times and I'm ashamed that I'm still doing it."

"Jasmine, I'm sure the feelings are there, she just can't summon them yet. Maybe she just needs a bit of encouragement."

"I'm not hers." Jasmine ground out, finally standing.

"Of course you are, Jasmine, there's no one else in the prophecy, but you. It can't be your mother because she's human."

"I'm not hers." Jasmine repeated, turning away.

"Jasmine, please be rational. Who else could it be if it's not you. Your cousin is dead, his brother, Zane is dead, your father, even if it were him, is dead. The only one left is you."

"I'M NOT HERS!" Jasmine screamed, lunging at Felina and landing blows on the woman as the former assassin stood in shock at the outburst and onslaught. At last, Felina came to her senses and restrained Jasmine's hands until the girl's struggles faded into heavy sobs. Felina pulled her close and cooed to her softly.

"She doesn't love me." Jasmine cried. "How can I be hers if she doesn't love me?"

Felina didn't know what to say so she continued rubbing Jasmine's back, even as Valentina came out of the shadows and stood beside them.

When Jasmine's tears subsided, she turned to her mother and sighed. "Go ahead and say it." She said bitterly.

"What?" Valentina inquired.

"That I'm weak, a disappointment, and even though you've taught me all you could, I still know nothing, just like my father."

Valentina cocked her head. "Does it still hurt?" she asked to which Jasmine nodded. "Then you are neither unknowing nor a disappointment. You are trying to deal with the pain of being unloved by the one you desperately need to love you. I cannot look down on you for that because even while Alek was dating her, you kept a strong face. Keep trying Jasmine; just as Felina said, the love is there, she just needs some encouragement to summon it."

Jasmine nodded and kept her head down as she and Felina went back to their room. Chloe was sitting on her bed quietly and hugging her chest slightly. She looked up when the other two girls came in and surveyed Jasmine closely. The tan girl turned away from her as she climbed into bed and Felina saw a bit of hurt flash across Chloe's face for a second before the other blonde pushed it away and looked down at her hands again.

_Yes,_ Felina thought. _The feelings are definitely there, she just needs a LOT of encouragement. Let's see if these trips can't help little Chloe out._

Felina slowly slipped into bed and turned to face the other two girls as Chloe lay down to go to sleep. Slowly drifting into sleep, Felina's mind worked hard to figure out how she could help Chloe realize her feelings for Jasmine before it was too late.

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**Man, that was a close one. Jasmine almost thought Felina was going to kiss Chloe. Jump to conclusions much, they're cousins. Poor Jasmine. Review and tell me what you think. i'll have the next few chapters up in a bit.**


	3. Chapter 3

**_Chapter three! Bit short, but I think you'll like it._**

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**Chapter three**

Chloe yawned as everyone loaded their luggage onto the plane. It was four or five in the morning and everyone was tired, some just hid it better than others. Valentina, Jasmine and Felina looked wide awake, but if Chloe looked close enough, she saw their eyelids drooping for fractions of seconds before they raised them again. Meredith Amy and Chloe yawned periodically, but otherwise showed no signs. Paul was the only one still hunched over with drooping eyelids and wide yawns.

At last, the group made it onto the plane, ready for New York. As soon as Paul, Amy and Meredith sat down, they put on their seat belts and went to sleep. Chloe and Jasmine shared seats, Meredith and Valentina were next to each other, and Amy and Paul sat together. It was taking Felina a bit longer because the guard wanted her to take off her ski mask. She was trying to negotiate to him that that was not a good idea, but he was stubborn.

Chloe walked back inside and tapped the guard's shoulder. He looked at her and Felina took the distraction gratefully. Grabbing her suitcase, she hurried to the plane while Chloe asked the guard about his training. When she was finished three minutes later, Chloe ran and jumped into the plane as the stairs were being removed. Felina helped her inside and they took their seats, Felina being just behind Chloe and Jasmine.

"Thanks for the save, Cousin." Felina told Chloe as they both sat back and buckled their seat belts.

"No problem." Chloe replied. "I feel bad for making all those people miss the plane though."

"Actually, most of them hurried and took their stuff through the line before the guard turned back around. I think he was too captivated by your smile and voice to notice."

Chloe blushed. "Come on, he probably had a wife and kids. I'm nothing compared to that."

Felina shrugged and sat back as Chloe relaxed into the seat. _A wife and kids._ The blonde thought. _Will I ever get something like that? A family to call my own?_ Chloe shook the thought away; she didn't have time to worry about making a family, she had to focus on uniting the prides and coexisting with the humans. _First stop, New York._

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"Do you think she can do it?" Meredith asked the sleepy woman next to her.

"Of course," Valentina replied. "Your daughter has quite the free spirit. Anything she sets her mind to, she can do. I've witnessed that firsthand, as I'm sure you have as well."

Meredith nodded. "It's just that, she just turned sixteen and there's so much she has to do with uniting people all across the globe and then ending this war between two species. I just think it may be a bit much for just one person."

"That's just it, Meredith," Valentina told her. "That's why we're going as well. You, Amy and Paul are moral support, Jasmine, Felina and I are protection and Chloe is a fighting force all her own."

Meredith nodded. "Why were Jasmine, Felina and Chloe the only ones meant to go in the first place?" she asked.

"Because since Felina and Chloe are related, they are both to unite the prides together."

"Yes, but why Jasmine?"

Valentina looked back to make sure her daughter was asleep before lowering her voice. "I've been researching the prophecy ever since Alek died and I've found that it wasn't a Petrov that was supposed to be Chloe's mate after all. Jasmine is supposed to be the one Chloe chose, but since she chose Alek, fate had to get him out of the picture in order for Chloe to see Jasmine. But she seems reluctant to believe that Jasmine is the one for her."

Meredith shrugged. "Chloe's never displayed much of a liking for girls around me; it's always been boys with her. I don't know what to do about her and Jasmine getting together, but maybe this trip will help her get to know Jasmine more and maybe they'll warm up to each other."

Valentina shrugged. "Only time will tell." She said as the plane began lifting off.

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**_So, what do you think so far? Review and let me know ^_^_**


	4. Chapter 4

**_Chapter four, ready and waiting!_**

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**Chapter four**

Chloe woke as the plane hit down in the Harlem airport. Stretching, she undid her seatbelt and began helping Jasmine Felina and Paul with the luggage. Carrying the multitude of bags out of the plane, the group made their way into the airport and to the waiting area.

"Do we have everything?" Valentina asked. Felina checked again and nodded. "Alright, let's call a cab and get out of here."

"How do we call a cab without any knowledge of this place?" Meredith asked with a raised eyebrow. Paul walked outside and held out his arm, watching wide-eyed as a cab stopped right in front of him. The others came out a moment later and stared as the cab driver asked, "Where you headed?"

Paul glanced at the others and shrugged. "TV gets some things right, I guess. Come on. Where should we go?"

"583 S Easton Avenue." Valentina said automatically, as everyone put their luggage in the trunk.

"Why there?" Chloe and Jasmine asked.

"An old friend lives there." Valentina replied as everyone piled in.

Meredith sat on Valentina, Amy sat on Paul and Felina sat in the front. Chloe hesitated, thinking it would strain her friendship with Jasmine if she sat on the other girl's lap, but that made no difference to Jasmine as the other girl sat behind Felina. Chloe took a deep breath, climbed in and gently sat on Jasmine's lap. A warm rush went through her as Jasmine's arms circled protectively around her waist and Chloe looked at her in confusion. Jasmine was looking out the window watching the streets as the cab began moving.

They arrived at their destination and everyone stared at the building in shock. It was a rundown apartment building with broken windows, moldy boards and a caving roof. Chloe and Jasmine got out first since they were near the curb and immediately went to the trunk to begin unloading the luggage.

"Wait there must be a mistake." Amy said, staring at the building.

"No, this is the place." Valentina told her. "Grab your luggage and follow me."

The others did as told and followed the Pride leader as the cab sped away. Walking around to the back, Valentina set down her bags and knocked on the back door. Figures jumped down around them and the three Mai were instantly on defense, creating a protective triangle around Meredith, Paul and Amy while Valentina stayed by the door. The figures moved forward and Chloe hissed at them, feeling the collar strain her neck a bit.

"State your business here." One of the figures said in a deep voice.

"We've brought the Uniter from San Francisco to assist your tribe." Valentina said calmly.

"San Francisco?" the person with the deep voice said. "Which of you is Valentina?"

"That would be me."

The figure stepped forward and extended his hand. Instead of taking it, Valentina grabbed his shoulder and the two squeezed their shoulders instead.

"It is good to see you in Harlem again." The figure said warmly.

"It's good to see you too, Josef." Valentina replied. "Shall we discuss business inside?"

Josef nodded and the other Mai parted to let the group move forward. Inside wasn't nearly as dirty or disgusting as outside. Everything was cleaner and better for living. There was electricity and a warm fire in a large fireplace. The group set their luggage underneath the staircase and sat around the fire, it was chilly this time of year.

"So what brings you back to Harlem?" Josef asked as more Mai came from upstairs, downstairs and rooms on the ground floor, curious to see the new arrivals.

"We've brought the Uniter and her cousin to help your tribe with the Order." Valentina told him.

"The Uniter has a cousin?" Josef asked curiously.

"That would be me." Felina said, raising her hand.

"Please make yourself at home, you don't have to wear a disguise in here."

Felina shook her head. "I would much rather keep it on, thanks."

Joseph shrugged and turned back to Valentina. "So who is the Uniter? Is it your young Jasmine?"

"No, Jasmine is merely coming along for protection. Young Chloe here is the Uniter. The Order has already wiped out three of her lives, so we wanted to hurry and get moving with her mission before they took anymore."

"Pleased to meet you, Chloe." Josef said politely.

"And you…"

"Call me Joseph." Chloe nodded and shook his head.

"Chloe is here to link your tribe with the rest of the Prides and to help with stopping the Order from killing anymore of us."

Joseph nodded. "You know the other tribes won't be so open to the idea of the Uniter." He said seriously. "Especially Brazil, Russia and Nigeria."

"Yes, we had a run-in with a pair of Brazilian Mai a few weeks ago. Nikki and Lilah were insistent that Chloe go back to Brazil with them and they nearly killed her in their anger at her refusal. Chloe fought back in self-defense, but accidentally killed Nikki in the process, so we'll wait awhile before heading to Brazil."

Josef nodded in approval. "How do you expect to help us?" He asked Chloe to which the blonde sighed.

"I have no idea, but I have to try everything short of blowing their hideout up."

"Actually…" Felina said, reaching for her pocket.

"No." Chloe said, shooting her a sharp look. Felina rolled her eyes but took her hand out of her pocket. "If I could just figure out where they're hiding, maybe we can reason with them."

Josef chuckled. "Good luck with that, Chloe. They're even more ruthless than your Order. They'll kill you as soon as they see you do something even remotely Mai-like."

Chloe's shoulders slumped slightly as she tried to figure out some way to speak with the Order. "Perhaps a nice nap will help us all figure out what to do." Meredith said after a few moments.

The others, especially Paul, nodded and Josef had a few Mai lead them to their separate rooms. Jasmine requested to sleep with Chloe, Amy held tight to Paul, and Meredith merely followed Valentina without a word. Felina was the only one to go off with the lanky, brown-haired boy that led her down a hall. A blonde Mai that had introduced himself as Archie led the two Mai to a spacious room set for two and they thanked him.

Just as Chloe and Jasmine were heading inside, two screams penetrated the air in the direction Felina had gone. The two girls looked at each other in horror and raced down the hall. Turning a corner, Chloe stopped at seeing Felina holding the boy against the wall a few feet off the ground and pressing a knife to the boy's throat as the boy whimpered in fear. Chloe looked around and found both Felina's hat and her mask on the ground not too far away and added everything up in her head.

"Felina," Chloe said cautiously as others came behind her. "Put him down and back away slowly."

Felina ignored her and continued snarling angrily at the boy, who had tears of terror shining in his eyes. "I said not to touch it." She growled. "Why did you touch it?"

"I-I just w-wanted t-to see your f-face." The boy said feebly.

"The reason I wear it is because I DON'T want people to see my face!" Felina spat, pressing the knife harder. Two of the younger Mai charged forward from behind Chloe and ran at Felina.

"No!" Chloe yelled. "Don't-!"

Before she could get a proper warning out, Felina had turned and punched both boys into the opposite wall before throwing the boy she had ben holding at them and making him crash on top of them. Pulling her mask and hat back on, Felina stalked up to Chloe.

"I told him not to touch it." She said. Chloe nodded. "You remember what happened when someone disobeyed that order?" Chloe nodded, cringing slightly at the memory of Felina nearly suffocating Jasmine in the dark room.

"I'll be outside for awhile if anyone needs me." Felina made to walk past the gathered people, but the Mai stood firm and glared at her. Felina backed away and took a running leap, jumping over the heads of all gathered before walking away.

Josef whistled as he watched her go. "Training them differently?" he asked Valentina who shook her head. "She used to be the best assassin for the Order before she joined us."

Josef raised an eyebrow. "The best assassin the Order had joined you? Then they won't stand a chance against us."

"We want to maintain peace." Chloe said softly. "Not kill them. Felina had to live her entire life looking like that and she doesn't like it when people take it off; she prefers to do it because it shows that she trusts you."

"Well she was hot," the lanky boy spoke up. "I thought the face underneath would be pretty too. Who knew someone with such a hot bod could have such a hideous face?"

Both Chloe and Jasmine moved at once, running at the boy and socking him on either side of his jaw. "You will **_not_** speak about her that way!" Jasmine hissed.

"She's beautiful!" Chloe added.

"Even if your **inferior** eyes can't see it." Jasmine growled.

"Why don't you open them and really look at her? Then you'll see the pretty creature she is." Chloe and Jasmine huffed.

"It's going to be harder than I thought to unite the Prides." Chloe muttered, glaring down at the stunned boy. Turning to the others she and Jasmine leveled them with a glare.

"Anyone ELSE have anything to say about my cousin?" Chloe asked calmly. Everyone shook their heads and Chloe nodded. "Come on, Jazzy, let's go see if she's ok." Jasmine nodded and the crowd parted as Chloe and Jasmine headed outside.

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**_Hmm, bit tense, no wonder the Prides grew apart. Let's see what happens next and if this new development causes any high rising tension to form._**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter five**

_Hideous monster, disgusting creature, ferocious beast; you are pitiful in your ugliness. _Felina sat outside in the backyard on top of an old shed watching the sky. She heard Chloe and Jasmine coming behind her and sighed.

"I want to be alone right now." She said. The footsteps hesitated, but continued coming forward anyway. Chloe sat on her left and Jasmine sat on her right. Felina looked at both of them and felt the tears come to her eyes.

"I'm hideous." she mumbled. "Even one of my own brothers said so."

Chloe patted her back comfortingly. "Felina, you're beautiful. It doesn't matter what the world thinks. All that matters is what you believe. Please don't believe you're ugly because you're not."

Felina sniffed softly and put her head in her hands. "But how can I keep a straight face when the entire world thinks I'm a monster?"

"The entire world thought the Fantastic Four and the Incredible Hulk were monsters even though they saved the world time and time again." None of them had noticed Paul, Amy, Meredith, and Valentina walking up. "They thought the Transformers were alien robots come to take over the word, but it didn't bother them because they knew what they were and that kept them going on their missions." Felina looked up at him and nodded slowly.

"But you have something barely any of them had right away." Amy said soothingly.

Felina snorted and asked, "What's that?"

"Us." Valentina and Jasmine stated simply. "You have friends who are willing to believe you are good."

Felina looked up at the two smiling girls on either side of her and sighed. "Alright, but I'm coming along just for protection from now on. No trying to do anything with the Prides or their leaders."

Chloe nodded and began heading back inside. Before they could, gunshots went off and they all turned to see two or three warrior looking men aiming at them with large guns.

"It's the Order." Valentina breathed.

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**_My, very short indeed. Sorry about that, but the next one should at least be longer than this one._**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter six**

"Mom, Valentina, get Amy and Paul inside and tell Josef what's happening." The two women did as told immediately while Chloe, Jasmine and Felina went on defense. Jumping on top of some garbage cans and climbing up to stand in front of the three men, the girls stood before them.

"What do you want?" Chloe demanded.

"You dead." One of them replied, raising the gun. Chloe's hand shot forward and took the gun; using her superhuman strength, Chloe snapped the gun in half and hissed at the other two men.

"Look, we need to talk to you. I was wondering if you could take us to your boss so that we could talk to him?"

"Why would we do that?" The guy asked stubbornly.

"Because, my cousin just knocked out your backup _and_ swiped your wallet while you were putting on your tough guy act."

The guy glanced behind him to find his comrades on the ground unconscious and gulped. "Alright, we'll take you to Gregory, but no tricks. If we think something wrong is going on, we'll blow your brains out."

Chloe nodded, wondering whom this 'we' was since there was only one guy. Signaling to the back of the building, Chloe summoned Valentina and Josef. The guy eyed them warily, but led the way through Harlem until they came to an equally rundown place on the other side of town. A scanner took the man's fingerprints and a secret door opened. Chloe went after the man with Jasmine and the others close behind. As they entered, a multitude of guns turned their way and the Mai held their hands up. Valentina continued walking, since she was human.

"They're with me." The man leading them said. "They wanna talk to Gregory. But stay on my six just in case." The gunmen nodded and kept a close watch on the travelers. Chloe looked around uneasily as they went into a spacious office.

"Boss," the man said. "There're some Mai here to talk to ya."

"Mai?" a deep voice, deeper than Josef's, asked in disgust. "What could they possibly want from me?"

Chloe moved forward. "We were wondering about some negotiations with the Harlem Mai tribe."

The chair at the desk turned around and Chloe saw a stocky, redheaded man dressed completely in a black leather suit with black gloves over his hands. The man, assumed to be Gregory, glared at Chloe and the Mai felt a thin chill slide down her back, but held his gaze defiantly.

"Hm," Gregory said, standing and walking slowly around the desk. "You're different from the other Mai, as are your two friends, especially the one with the ski mask on. Why does she wear it, may I ask?"

Felina shifted and shook her head, not wanting to answer. Gregory's eyes narrowed and he snapped his fingers. Felina quickly ducked to avoid the hand that shot out seconds later to take her mask off.

"Don't touch my mask or I'll shred your hands." She said.

"My gloves are resistant to your claws, Kitty Kat." The man said, reaching for the mask again. In an instant, Felina had two knives in her hands and had turned around; moving her hands in quick succession, the man didn't have enough time to realize that he was in pain before his hands fell in strips at his feet. He fell to his knees looking at the strips in horror. Gregory rubbed his bearded chin speculatively.

"You know," he said in a deeper voice. _Is this guy trying to be alluring?_ Chloe thought in distaste. "You would make a wonderful assassin for the Order. Would you consider joining?"

"I've already been an assassin for this organization. It was cruel to the Mai and it only took my cousin losing another life for me to see that."

Gregory turned to Jasmine and Chloe with wide eyes. "One of you is the Uniter?" he asked hoarsely. Chloe stepped forward and Gregory staggered slightly.

"What do you want with me?" he asked.

"I only want you to stop hunting the Harlem Mai Tribe and at least try to coexist peacefully." Chloe said. "I'm not saying you have to be nice to each other, but don't you think your organization could put its skills to better use than hunting people who hunt you right back? Maybe you could become a secret society in which you send people out to patrol the city and keep it from harm. What harm do the Harlem Mai cause?"

"They kill humans that step on their land." Gregory replied coldly.

Chloe turned to Josef. "You didn't kill my mom." She said to him in confusion.

"About that…" Josef murmured.

Chloe's eyes widened in fear and she picked him up by the throat. "What is going to happen to my mom?" she snarled.

"My Mai are trained to torture humans for any information they know on the order and then eliminate them." Josef said quickly.

Chloe growled in frustration and said, "Felina, you Valentina and Josef stay here with Mr. Gregory and try to negotiate so that he puts his company to good use and Josef doesn't have any more reasons to kill humans that step on his land. Jasmine, you're with me. We need to save Paul, my mom, and Amy. Let's go."

Jasmine and Chloe moved swiftly out of the compound passed the shocked gunman and out of the hideout. Racing on rooftop back to the apartment, the girls smashed through a window and landed right in the room they needed to be in.

"Let them go." Chloe ordered, her voice taking on a dangerous tone that Jasmine's only heard twice before.

Meredith was tied up and being whipped, Amy had a knife in her arm and Paul had a dart stuck in his leg. The Mai in the room snarled at her and charged. Jasmine and Chloe both jumped into action, reducing the Mai to a heap of unconscious bodies in mere moments.

"They need better training." Jasmine muttered as Chloe set her friends and Mother free.

"Let's get out of here before the others come." Jasmine commanded.

Chloe nodded and put Paul on her back while carrying her Meredith in her arms. Jasmine took Amy into her arms and the two raced out of the building as fast as they could and back to the hideout without getting seen. Heading into the secret hideout, Chloe and Jasmine dodged a few bullets and made it to the office without any more interruption. Banging open the door, Chloe was surprised to see Josef and Gregory slowly shaking hands, cringing at feeling each other.

"It's settled then." Josef said. Felina and Valentina both breathed sighs of relief.

"It's about time." Felina grumbled.

Just as she was walking past him, Gregory snatched the ski mask off her head and looked at her face. Felina froze and turned to him with hard green eyes. A snarl pulled at her lips as she stared into the wide hazel eyes opposite her.

"Is there something wrong with my face?" she demanded lowly. Gregory shook his head no, not wanting to provoke her any further. "Then could I please have my mask back?"

The frightened man quickly handed back the mask and stooped to give her the hat as well. "Have a good day, Mr. Gregory." Felina said pleasantly. "I hope your plans go well."

He nodded and hurried back to his desk. The Mai hurriedly left and Josef turned to Meredith, Amy and Paul. "My apologies for the way I trained my Mai. I did not order them to torture you, but it is almost second nature to them."

"Well, now you'll have to teach them a different second nature because the organization you'll be forming with the Order involves both Mai and humans." Valentina told him, fixing him with a stern gaze.

Josef nodded and led the way back to the rundown apartment. The Mai were instantly on defense when they saw Chloe and Jasmine, but the girls paid no mind, staying close to the humans as Josef called all the Mai out and told them about the new underground protection agency they would be forming with the Order. All of the Mai relaxed at the thought of not being hunted in their homes anymore.

After a good night's sleep, the group was heading to the airport again, returning to San Francisco for a bit before heading to Spain. As Chloe and the other bade them good-bye, the Mai cheered for the Mai trio and made two blushes appear. Felina simply waved good-bye and helped get their luggage. The group waved goodbye to the Mai and headed back to the airport. Felina breathed a sigh of relief when they were FINALLY on a plane back to San Francisco.

"Feel better?" Chloe asked.

Felina nodded. "Let's just hurry up and get there so I can sleep somewhere familiar before we head out again."

Chloe nodded. "You handled it well." She said after a moment of thought.

"Yeah, well, I'd like to rip a few faces off, but since I have to play good girl, I guess I can show SOME self-restraint." Chloe chuckled at that and nodded, settling into the chair next to Jasmine and drifting into sleep.

* * *

**_Niiice, i think it's pretty good. That's all for right now, y'all. Gotta go write some more chapters. Keep reviewing and telling me what you think of the story so far. Thanks for the support ^_^_**


	7. Chapter 7

**_Took less time than I thought to write the chapter. Probably because it has three different PsOV in it, but check it out anyway._**

* * *

**_Chapter seven_**

"How did she do that?" Whitley demanded as he talked to Gregory over the phone.

"She has a point, Whitley." Gregory said, using a nonchalant tone. "Maybe the Order isn't doing what it should be doing. Maybe we're wasting our time trying to wipe out an entire species just because they're different. I mean that's just like Hitler."

Whitley growled into the phone. "Fine Gregory. Team up with the Mai, but don't come crying to me when they back stab you." Whitley slammed the phone on the hook angrily and rubbed his chin for a moment before standing and pacing.

"Where are all of the Mai Prides located?" he asked himself. "There are so many… I can't get to all of them in time to find her and kill her myself."

A smile spread slowly across his face. "But I can try and figure out where she's heading next." With that, he began planning his next move on the Uniter.

* * *

Chloe groaned as she awoke. "Why must planes leave so early?" she grumbled as she put her luggage in another taxi to the airport.

"Because they have to get people to their destinations sometimes before nightfall." Felina replied.

"Rhetorical question." Chloe told her.

Felina shrugged and everyone piled back into the taxi. Chloe felt that same rush of warmth at feeling Jasmine's arms around her and it was really vexing her what could be going on. As they rode, everyone either dozed off or stared out the window, so zoned out they could have been asleep themselves. Chloe awoke to find that she had laid her head on jasmine's chest and gone to sleep curled in the other girl's embrace and jasmine had gone to sleep as well. Moving slowly so as not to wake Jasmine, Chloe looked around and found Meredith and Valentina in the same position as her and Jasmine.

Chloe raised an eyebrow and thought, _When was the last time Mom talked to Frank? Does she even know he exists anymore? Is she into Valentina? That would make things so awkward between Jasmine and me! _Chloe shivered and felt Jasmine's arms tighten.

"What's the matter?" the tan girl asked softly. "Are you cold?"

Chloe shook her head and said, "Just thinking about how awkward things would be between the two of us if our moms started dating."

Jasmine shivered at the thought as well and glanced over at the two mothers sleeping together (Pun totally unintended). Chloe's eyelids began getting heavy again and she slowly laid her head back on Jasmine's chest, relishing in its warmth as she drifted back into sleep. As they boarded the plane, no one had gotten much sleep, so as soon as they all made it onto the plane, Chloe and the others began drifting to sleep. Chloe tossed and turned for a good half hour before looking over at Jasmine.

"Jazzy?" she asked softly. Jasmine turned to face her and Chloe cleared her throat nervously. "D-do you mind if I sleep next to you?"

"You're right next to me, Chloe." Jasmine told her with a small smirk playing on her lips.

"I mean can I sleep in the seat with you?" Chloe said, a blush creeping into her cheeks.

Jasmine lifted the armrest and opened her arms for Chloe; the blonde girl slowly snuggled into them and was asleep within minutes, lulled to sleep by the soft warmth and protective energy coming from Jasmine.

* * *

Felina chuckled as she watched the display in front of her. _Chloe sure is hesitant to show affection for Jasmine, but it's obvious it's there._ Looking out the window, Felina wondered if she would ever find someone that fits her as perfectly as Chloe and Jasmine fit together.

Thinking about this, the assassin began pondering on how the two girls were meant for each other. They were both extremely protective and defiant, Jasmine's need to do the right thing complimented Chloe's, how Chloe's approval of everyone and everything brought out the instinctive, defensive side of Jasmine… they were perfectly matched, not just physically, but mentally as well. Chloe did things headstrong and didn't think many of them through while Jasmine thought them through, thus helping Chloe get out of tight spots and diverting her from getting into too much danger.

Felina sighed. _I wonder if I could ever find that. _Felina thought sadly._ Probably not. No one would take a face like mine. _Sighing, the cat woman slowly drifted into sleep herself, feeling sad at the fact that she would never find love.

* * *

**_Tada! Tell em what you think. I'll TRY to make the next chapter a bit more exciting for you guys. _**


	8. Chapter 8

**Thanks again to ****_Nightfire87 for the review and I'm glad. Here's the next chapter._**

* * *

**Chapter eight**

Chloe moved stealthily through the underground tunnels, following her prey skillfully. As she wound around the tunnels and corners, Chloe felt growing anticipation for the coming ambush. Turning a final corner, Chloe was raising the net and getting ready to pounce when a voice startled her and the small rat skittered away. Turning, Chloe found Jasmine walking toward her.

"Jasmine, I was just about to get it. Then these tunnels would be rid of one more rat." Jasmine took the net from Chloe's hands and tossed it away.

"Come on," the tan girl said, tugging Chloe along behind her.

"Where are we going?" Chloe asked in confusion.

"You'll see." Jasmine said with a playful twinkle in her eyes. Chloe's curiosity kept building as Jasmine led her through an unknown part of the tunnels. Moving upward, Chloe saw Jasmine open a hatch and climb out before offering her a hand. Chloe let Jasmine help her climb out and looked around, gasping. They were in the most beautiful meadow she had ever seen.

"Where are we?" she asked in awe.

"Place I used to come when I was feeling down." Jasmine told her, pulling Chloe down to sit on the ground next to her. Chloe looked around in wonder at all of the different flowers and trees.

"Chloe," the blonde turned to see Jasmine leaning toward her slightly.

"J-Jasmine." Chloe breathed. Jasmine's hand came up to stroke her cheek as the tan girl leaned further to her.

"May I kiss you?" Chloe's eyes widened in surprise, but not from the question; she was surprised from the fact that she **WANTED** jasmine to kiss her.

"Yes." The blonde girl replied strongly. Jasmine leaned further and Chloe could feel her breath. Just as their lips were about to meet, Chloe awoke with a slight gasp. Sitting up quickly, she looked around; Jasmine and Felina were staring at her from their beds.

"What's wrong?" Chloe asked.

"You were mumbling in your sleep." Jasmine said. "You kept saying 'kiss me'."

Chloe felt a blush rise to her cheeks and she ducked her head. "I guess I still miss Alek." She mumbled.

Since her head was down and her eyes were on the bed, Chloe missed the look of pain that shot across Jasmine's face, but Felina saw it. Jasmine's hand flew to her chest and the tan girl gritted her teeth against the pain. Chloe looked back up and noticed Jasmine's pained expression.

"What's wrong Jasmine?" she asked slowly.

"Nothing," Jasmine replied loftily, moving her hand down to her side. "Just a bit of heartburn maybe."

Concern filled Chloe's eyes as she sat up all the way. "Are you alright?" the blonde girl asked. Jasmine nodded, ignoring the next flash of pain that crept outward in her chest.

"So, ah, were you dreaming about anything else?" she asked, feigning nonchalance, but desperately wanting to know if Chloe had dreamed of her as well.

"No, just a regular dream, nothing more nothing less." Chloe replied, glad it was too dark to see her blush. Jasmine felt the pain come again and bit back the urge to cry out.

"Ok, try to get some more sleep. We leave for Spain tomorrow."

Lying back down Jasmine curled up to try and ease the pain, but it kept coming, harder and harder until it finally knocked her out. Chloe lay back down and turned away from the other two girls, but she didn't go to sleep. She thought about the dream she'd had and wondered how it could have been so vivid and real.

_But I'm not in love with Jasmine. _Chloe thought. _She may be interested in me, but I don't like her that way. I still love Alek. But then why do I keep having these feelings?_

Chloe sighed, pushing the thoughts away so she could sleep. In the morning, Chloe yawned softly as she, Jasmine and Felina carried the majority of the luggage out to the taxicab.

"Alright, do we have enough money to make the trips to Spain, France, Ukraine, Russia and Hong Kong?" Valentina asked as everyone put their bags into the trunk.

Felina pulled out five different envelopes each marked with a different name of the countries they were going to. Valentina hefted the envelopes and looked at Felina for confirmation. Felina nodded and everyone piled into the car. Chloe felt a bit awkward sitting on Jasmine's lap after her dream last night, but got in anyway. Dismissing the warmth to simply be Jasmine's arms as they touched her, Chloe looked out the window and watched San Francisco fly past as they headed to the airport. Getting on the plane to Spain, Chloe made Paul sit next to Jasmine so that she could sit next to Amy and talk for a moment.

"What's up?" Amy asked as soon as Chloe sat down.

"How did you know something was up?" Chloe asked.

"Well, you've been stiff ever since last night, you aren't smiling as much as you should be, you'll barely even look at Jasmine…" Amy suddenly gasped and stared at Chloe with wide eyes. "Oh my god! did you two get drunk and have sex last night?"

Chloe's eyes widened at the tingles of pleasure that went through her at the thought but pushed them away. "No," Chloe hissed. "Let me explain!" Amy nodded and Chloe explained the dream to her.

"Amy it was so vivid, like it was actually happening. Is that bad that I miss Alek so much I'm having thoughts about his cousin?"

Amy shrugged. "Maybe you just need to find someone new to fawn over."

"Fawn over?" Chloe asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Like you did with Brian."

"Ugh! I didn't fawn over Brian."

"Yes, you did."

"No, I didn't!"

"Yes, you did!"

"No, I didn't!"

"You so did!"

"I so did not!"

* * *

While Chloe and Amy continued their playful argument, Jasmine was staring out the window, willing the tears to stay in her eyes. She had begun listening when she heard Alek's name come into the conversation and then the word cousin. It hurt her to remember how Chloe felt about both Brian and Alek.

_She seemed genuinely happy with Alek. _Jasmine thought sadly. As the thought passed through her head, images of Alek and Chloe flooded Jasmine's mind: the two were kissing, laughing together, kissing some more, Chloe was defending Alek against the Jackals… it was never-ending.

The pictures kept coming no matter how hard Jasmine tried to push them away and the pain was building in her chest again. Jasmine fought to keep it down and would have succeeded had her ears not picked up another piece of Chloe and Amy's conversation.

"Amy, don't think like that." Chloe hissed quietly so that no one would hear. "I have no feelings for Jasmine other than friendship and you know it! I'm sure Jasmine feels the same way. There are plenty of other people out thee besides me."

A tear leaked down Jasmine's cheek as she finally succumbed to the pain and let the darkness overwhelm her.

* * *

**_Poor Jazzy. But things should be looking up for her soon! Next chapter and the chapter after wil be focusing on Felina._**


	9. Chapter 9

**Ok, this chapter is mainly about Felina... I think you'll like it.**

* * *

**Chapter Nine**

Felina watched Jasmine struggle with her agony. Unlike Jasmine, Felina had heard every word of the conversation and had been jumping for joy inside that her cousin's feelings were finally making themselves known. But watching Jasmine, Felina was saddened that she couldn't tell her friend that Chloe was meant to be with her.

_Damn the prophecy. _Felina thought, watching Jasmine struggle not to cry. Then Chloe had to say that one bit… "Amy, don't think like that. I have no feelings for Jasmine other than friendship and you know it! I'm sure Jasmine feels the same way. There are plenty of other people out there besides me."

Felina watched as Jasmine gave up her struggle and let the pain wash over her. Felina's eyes narrowed and she decided that as soon as the plane landed she would have a very serious talk with her cousin. A few hours later, the plane touched down in Spain and the group quickly exited the plane. Heading into the airport, Jasmine, Chloe and Felina stiffened at seeing so many men with big guns watching them closely. One of the guards approached them and began speaking in Spanish. From the Spanish she knew from her mother, Felina was able to determine that he wanted her to take off her hat and mask.

"No quiero quedarse mi sombrero." She said slowly.

The guard grumpily reached out and made to snatch the disguise away, but Felina caught his hand and shook her head. More men came over, but Jasmine and Chloe stood defensively in front of them and forced the other guards to stay back. The guard was now yelling at Felina to take off her disguise or he would shoot her. Felina continued saying no and he reached for his gun. Before he could aim it, Felina took it and threw it away from them. She glared at the guard, who was suddenly scared.

"Order!" he screamed at some burly men. "Ella es un gato!"

The men's ears perked up and they began advancing. Chloe and Jasmine both understood enough of the Spanish spoken to know that the Order must have been very influential here and that the Mai were forced into hiding. As the men aimed their guns, Chloe and Jasmine jumped at them, taking them down while Felina took care of the normal guards. As the girls stopped for a breath, five more men with large laser guns appeared and aimed at them. Felina, thinking quickly, pulled Jasmine and Chloe out of range and put herself in the line of fire.

"No!" Chloe screamed as the lasers tore into Felina and ripped her apart.

Both Chloe and Jasmine looked up with constricted yellow and green eyes and hissed at the men before jumping on them with their claws drawn. Beating the men down to a heap of unconscious bodies, the girls took up the pieces of Felina's body and led their friends and mothers out of the airport. Ducking into a secluded alleyway, Jasmine and Chloe laid the pieces of their fallen friend down and stared at them sadly. But as they all watched in shock, the pieces began crawling back together and the torn pieces sewed themselves back together. Felina slowly sat up and coughed up a bit of blood before standing.

"That was unpleasant." She said as she brushed herself off.

"You're alive!" Chloe beamed up at her.

"Yeah, I guess our bodies regenerate, which is what would have happened in the explosion back at San Francisco. Anyway, it seems that we have to keep an extremely low profile here because the Order seems to be more open."

The others nodded and Jasmine turned to her mother. "Where do you think the Mai would be hiding?" she asked.

Valentina opened her mouth, but before she could say anything, a thickly accented voice answered for her. "We are right underneath you." They all looked in the direction of the voice and found a black-haired man with a slight mustache and amber eyes looking up at them.

"Señor Alvidrez?" Valentina asked slowly.

"It is I, Valentina." The man said. "Now I suggest you all come with us before the Order comes looking for you."

Chloe and Jasmine ushered Amy, Meredith, Paul and Valentina first. Señor Alvidrez looked at them speculatively. "Are your humans trustworthy?" he asked, eyeing Amy and Paul suspiciously.

"Yes," Chloe responded. The man gave a curt nod and helped them down into the tunnel. Señor Alvidrez led them through the sewers and to a place that seemed like a dead end.

"Where to from here?" Meredith asked, looking around. Senor Alvidrez didn't answer. He merely pressed a hidden button and a small door opened before them. Climbing through, they all looked around in wonder.

"Mai have a thing for pretending to live in dark smelly places, huh?" Amy said softly as she looked at the elegant carvings on the walls.

"Yeah, I guess so." Chloe replied staring at the circular chandeliers hanging from the ceiling.

"Alfred," Valentina said. "We have come to help your Pride with the Order."

"I did not see any reinforcements behind you." Alfred replied.

"We don't need reinforcements yet. But we've brought the Uniter, her Protector, and her cousin to help you."

"The Uniter has a cousin?" Alfred asked curiously.

"I know, little known fact right?" Felina said.

Alfred turned to her and cocked his head. "You look familiar. I remember a description of you from someone…"

Felina looked at him in confusion as Alfred walked up and stared into her eyes. Snapping his fingers, Alfred said, "I have it! You are Raton's younger sister, aren't you? Fiona… Ferina… Felina!"

Felina stepped back. "How do you know me? What have you told my brother? How do you know my brother?"

Alfred walked over to her with his hand outstretched. "It is a pleasure to meet you at last. Raton has told us so much about you from his trips to San Francisco."

Felina's eyes widened. "W-what did he tell you?"

"That when you hunted humans that were endangering your Mai Pride, you did it with expertise unmatched by any other."

Felina's ears drooped at this. Her brother thought she had been protecting her Pride, when, in actuality, she had been helping the Order destroy it. "Where is he?" she asked half-heartedly.

"Raton!" Alfred shouted down the corridor.

A tall boy with dirty-blonde hair, brown eyes, and soft features strode into the room and looked around. Catching sight of Felina, he walked until he was a few feet in front of her. The two stared at each other for a moment and Felina felt her eyes tear up.

"All those times I visited Spain and you never showed any Mai trait at all." She whispered.

"I'm only a year older than you." Raton said in a slightly gravelly voice.

"But you didn't even show any signs of developing."

Raton shrugged and looked at her. "I remember the last time I visited America." He whispered. "I know what you were doing stalking that man."

"Please Raton, it was a mistake."

"To hunt your own kind?" Raton snarled, sliding easily into a fighting crouch. "To join the people we're fighting against? To act like you were a human assassin until you showed your victims your face? Yeah, that was a big mistake, Felina. So what are you here for now? Did the Order recruit you and these other people to come kill us all?"

"No." Felina said, tears stinging her eyes. "I left the Order to help the Uniter. I left that behind to try and start over."

"It's a bit late for that, don't you think?" Raton growled.

"Even if she does, I don't." Chloe spoke up, stepping between the two and facing Raton while slipping into a fighting crouch as well. "Felina was an assassin for the Order, but she turned her back on them once she met Jasmine and me. Are you going to argue with your baby sister over a few mistakes?"

"A few mistakes?" Raton shouted. "She killed countless Mai and humans alike! And for what? Why did she do it?"

"Because I needed to live!" Felina roared, now furious. "My father didn't want me, my mother died when I was eight… what do you think I should have done? I had nothing to do. Whitley found me and noticed my cat-like abilities just after I turned fifteen. He trained me for a year and then sent me on assassination missions. Excuse me for putting to use my abilities instead of going into hiding! It's not like you or Safire pleaded with Father to let me stay. He kicked both me and mother out. But I came back. I came back countless times to check on you in secret. Did you care? Obviously not, because you never bothered to talk to me while you were in San Francisco. If you had, I might not have killed as many people as I have."

Chloe looked between the two siblings and raised her hands. "Awkward moment. I'm just gonna step away." She stepped back next to Jasmine as the two siblings glared at each other.

"You said you've joined the Uniter." Raton said at last. "Where is he? Is he your chosen mate?"

Felina snorted. "First off, the Uniter is our cousin and second-."

"It's a girl." Jasmine finished.

Raton turned to her and raised an eyebrow. "You don't look like much to me." He said, appraising her.

"Not me, you-." Amy put a hand over her mouth before anything hurtful came out.

"I'm the Uniter." Chloe said, stepping forward.

"You?" Raton said, shocked. "But you're-."

"Sixteen? Too young? Inexperienced? Go ahead, but I've been through enough to know I have six lives left and I'm not wasting them training anymore. I'll either unite the Prides and end this ridiculous war or I'll die trying, but you won't speak to your sister that way when she's trying to help your Pride get rid of the people threatening it."

Raton stared at Chloe and she stared back defiantly. He nodded and sighed, turning back to his sister. "Would you mind at least taking the mask off, sis?" he said in a gentler tone. "I haven't seen your face in months."

"You… you actually want to see me?" Felina felt like she was going to cry.

Raton nodded and Felina slowly let her hat drop to the ground. Gently removing her ski mask, she suddenly felt very exposed and was afraid to look up. Looking through her eyelashes, Felina saw Raton come forward and felt him lift her chin up. She looked at him fearfully and he smiled reassuringly as he stroked her blonde fur.

"Just as beautiful as I remember." He murmured, kissing her forehead. Felina let a few tears slip down her cheeks as she threw her arms around his neck and buried her face in his shoulder. He rubbed her back and after a few minutes Felina let go.

"Where's Safire?" she asked, wiping at her eyes.

Raton's eyes went down to the floor as he slowly replied, "She, uh, she went missing yesterday."

* * *

**Tada! What do you think? Tell me about it in a review and I might write the next chapter even faster.******


	10. Chapter 10

**Thanks for waiting y'all. here's the next chapter for you! Enjoy.**

* * *

**Chapter ten**

Felina's eyes widened. "Sh-she went missing? But, she's the oldest; she can't be missing. Was she still in Brazil with the Amazons?"

Raton nodded. "I went to pick her up, but I had to be in disguise so the guards didn't catch me. I was a few minutes late, her plane had already come, but when I got there, she was nowhere to be found."

Felina gasped and growled, "The Order!"

Raton cocked his head. "You can't know that for sure." He said.

"Think about it, Raton. Safire has been living with Amazons for years and therefore has no knowledge of the Order or her own Mai traits, she decides to come to Spain where the Order is very straightforward, and then she goes missing. What else could have happened?"

Raton turned to Alfred. "She's got a point. The Order could quite possibly be the reason for my sister's disappearance."

Alfred nodded. "I think it's time that we come out of hiding and face the Order once and for all, proving that we are just as strong as they are. We may not have heavy guns and protective suits, but we will fight until every last one of us is dead if we have to."

Chloe stepped forward. "Maybe we should try negotiating first?" she said.

"Chloe," Meredith and Valentina said. Valentina let Meredith speak. "Chloe, these people were ready to kill you on sight, maybe fighting is the best way this time."

Chloe shook her head. We have to at least try, Mom. Jasmine, Felina and I will do a stakeout and watch some of the guards until they go back to the Order's headquarters. When we've found it, we'll report back here and get as many Mai as possible to come with us so that we'll have someone watching our backs while we're negotiating."

"Have someone trail a little behind us just in case we're caught. That way, you'll know where to find us." Jasmine added and Chloe nodded to her.

Alfred looked impressed. "Very well-thought out, ladies, I like it. Alright, your shifts start tomorrow afternoon. Get a good night's sleep and be ready by eleven o'clock."

The girls nodded and Raton began leading everyone to their rooms. Just as before, Amy was stuck to Paul, Meredith followed Valentina, and Jasmine requested to sleep with Chloe. Unlike last time, however, Felina requested to sleep with Chloe as well. Raton nodded and led them further down the hall to a room set for three.

Felina gave him a hug good night and followed the other two inside. Settling down for bed, Felina watched as Chloe stole nervous glances at Jasmine before climbing into bed. Felina stayed awake and watched the two girls fall asleep. As the night progressed, she watched as both started twitching at the same time.

"Chloe!" Jasmine murmured, rolling over.

"Jasmine!" Chloe responded, rolling over to face her. Felina watched both at the same time and cocked her head at the words they were saying.

"K-kiss me again." Chloe mumbled, getting twisted into her blanket as Jasmine rolled over and moaned.

As the moaning grew louder, Felina found that the girls must have been having a jointed dream without realizing it. Moving between their beds, Felina took a quick look out the small window in the upper right corner near the ceiling and found that the sun was in the perfect place. It was nearly ten-thirty. Slightly startled at staying up all night, Felina raised her hands and brought them together with three sharp smacks. Jasmine and Chloe both sat up, Chloe falling off the bed because of how tangled she was in her blanket.

"What happened?" Jasmine asked half-alert, half asleep.

"It's ten thirty, I thought you two might want to know since your moaning was getting louder." Both girls blushed profusely.

"Moaning?" Chloe asked quietly.

"Yeah, I swear, I thought you were both having sex in your dreams. It kept me up most of the night, I kept drifting in and out of sleep."

Both girls ducked their heads in utter embarrassment and jumped out of bed. Getting dressed (Felina leaving her mask off for now), they headed down a corridor and entered a large spacious room with a long table. There were multiple Mai there already, eating breakfast and talking. When the three girls entered with Chloe in the lead, they all stopped and stared. One boy walked up to Chloe and checked her out.

"Hey, wanna do some sparring today before you have to go to shift?" Chloe cocked her head and looked the boy up and down before shrugging and nodding. He gave her a smile and walked off. Felina saw jasmine glare at the boy's back and sighed softly, sitting at the table and grabbing the pan of omelets.

"Do they have red peppers in them?" she asked one of the Mai gathered.

"Sí," the boy said, looking at her curiously.

Felina nodded and put two on the plate in front of her before taking a few tortillas and putting mild salsa on them. Chloe and Jasmine sat on either side of her and did the same. Eating slowly, the girls thought about the mission they were going to be sent on. At ten forty, Chloe followed the boy down a corridor and Felina and Jasmine followed a little ways behind. They entered a sparring arena and Chloe looked around speculatively. Standing on the other side of the arena the boy slipped into a fighting stance and Chloe did the same.

"Jasmine, give the signal." Chloe called.

Jasmine nodded and raised her hand. Dropping it, she watched as the boy charged Chloe. The blonde waited until he was nearly to her before pulling he first back and snapping him in the jaw. He staggered slightly, his wavy brown hair falling around his face for a moment. Chloe took advantage of this chance and moved in swiftly, punching the boy in quick succession. Moving low, she knocked his feet from under him and made him fall flat on his back before he did a backflip and moved back into a fighting crouch.

Chloe was still on the ground with her leg out to the side, so he charged again. Chloe jumped up at the last moment to avoid his foot and used her own foot to knock the boy in the chin and sent him reeling backward. Leaping forward as soon as she hit the ground, Chloe pinned the boy to the ground and smiled. He grinned up at her and she let him up.

"Good job, Uniter." The boy said.

"Thanks and call me Chloe." Chloe held her hand out and the boy took it.

"Tristan." He said with a smile, his brown eyes staring into hers. The two stared at each other for a moment, but broke the eye contact when Jasmine cleared her throat loudly.

"Chloe, we start shift in five minutes." The tan girl said, glaring at Tristan. Chloe nodded and shot Tristan a smile before following Jasmine out to the entrance they had used to get in.

"Ready?" the tan girl asked. Chloe and Felina nodded and were about to move through the secret entrance when a voice called out to them. They turned to see Tristan moving toward them.

"I'm the one they chose to trail you guys." He said as he caught up with them.

Chloe's eyes lit up, but Jasmine's darkened. She moved swiftly out the entrance with Felina close behind and Chloe went third with Tristan coming last. The quartet moved out of the sewers and into the alley. Climbing the buildings, the four of them all made it to a roof and Chloe, jasmine, and Felina began looking for any Order members.

Spotting some coming out of a bank across the street, the girls crouched down and watched them over the rim of the building. Jumping from building to building, the girls followed the guards for three hours without them going anywhere that seemed like it could be housing the Order members. Chloe was getting bored, Felina was getting tired and Jasmine was getting aggravated. Tristan jumped over to them and sat down next to Chloe.

"These guys do absolutely nothing except carry big guns." He muttered.

Chloe chuckled and looked at him. "I thought they carried rifles." She said.

"¿Qué?" Tristan asked.

"The army song. 'This is my rifle; this is my gun. This is for shooting, this is for fun.' Don't you guys do that in the military here?"

Tristan shook his head. "We only do, ah, te dice, 'all work and no play' in the army."

Chloe shrugged and leaned on him slightly while pressing her back against the ledge of the ceiling. Jasmine caught this and scowled, but got a bit of pleasure at ruining the moment by saying, "They're on the move again, come on."

Chloe stood and began following the Order guards once more. Felina sighed and followed behind, grumbling at the fact that the guys hadn't gone back to the headquarters yet. The three girls jumped across the buildings and found the two men chasing another Mai. Running across the rooftops so fast they were almost flying, the girls watched as the guards caught the Mai and commenced beating it down.

"We have to help her!" Chloe cried, staring at the blonde girl the guards were beating.

"But we're supposed to only watch them." Jasmine said, her eyes filling with worry at the sight of the girl being beat down. Chloe shook her head, backed up and took a running leap off the building.

"Should we go after her?" Felina asked.

Jasmine looked after Chloe and said, "I'm her CPO; I have no choice, even if I had wanted to say no."

Felina nodded and the two turned to Tristan. "Head to the sewers and tell both Valentina and Alfred that we have been captured. But don't go until you see where they take us."

He nodded and watched as the two girls jumped down after Chloe, who was already sprinting down the street.

"Hey!" she yelled, running faster at the two guards. They turned and one of them got a punch to the face from Chloe's momentum. Chloe continued beating him as Felina took the other one. Jasmine hung back for a moment until the guard Chloe was beating up grabbed her. The tan Mai jumped forward and socked him in the jaw. The other guy was calling for backup as Felina told the blonde Mai girl to run as fast as she could. The girl nodded and sprinted away.

Felina turned in time to see two more men coming down the street. She knelt to the ground and held out her hands in a show of surrender. Almost immediately, the other two girls did the same. The warriors put chains on their arms and led them away down the street. Chloe looked up and saw Tristan trailing them dutifully. She smiled; the plan was working great.

* * *

**Capture moment! Let's see if the girls make it out of this one. And you'll be meeting someone important soon. Review and tell me what you think!**


	11. Chapter 11

**You'll meet two new someones in this chapter so I hope you like it. You're in for a surprise, enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter eleven**

"How long are they supposed to be out there anyway?" Meredith asked as she and Valentina shared a lounge chair in the living area of the underground compound.

"Probably only until midnight so that they have enough time to sleep before having to head out tomorrow as well." The other woman shrugged.

"I just hope they're ok. If anything were to happen to Chloe, I'd be devastated. I mean she's my daughter." Valentina took Meredith's face in her hands and made the other woman look at her.

"Both our daughters are out there risking their lives, Meredith." She stated seriously. "What you need to do is stay clam, keep a strong face, and believe that they have a plan. They will be alright; Chloe and Jasmine are unbeatable when they are together. I've never seen Chloe fight better than when it was just her and Jasmine; she didn't even fight that well with Alek. Have faith that they know what they're doing." Meredith nodded, staring into the dark eyes opposite her.

Just then, a blonde Mai with dark hazel eyes ran in and yelled, "I know where the headquarters is! Chloe and the others were captured."

"What?" Meredith shouted. Both she and Valentina stood and made their way over to him.

"What happened?" Valentina asked calmly.

"They saw the guards they were trailing begin beating on this Mai girl and went down to help her. They had a plan to get captured and then I was supposed to follow them so that I could report back here." Valentina nodded.

"Alfred!" she shouted. The mustached man appeared in moments. "We need as may Mai as possible. Chloe Jasmine and Felina have been captured."

Alfred nodded and went over to a picture on the wall, lifting it and pressing a button. Red lights flashed, but no sirens were heard, yet all of the Mai came flooding in.

Alfred turned to the out-of-breath blonde boy. "Take us to them Tristan." He commanded. "Rapidamente."

Tristan nodded and headed back out the door with Valentina, Alfred, Meredith and a plethora of Mai right behind him. He led them through alleys and down back streets so that none of the other Order guards could catch them.

At last they arrived at a five-story building with guards outside the backdoor. Valentina and Alfred moved forward and made short work of the guards, clearing the way for the Mai to break down the door and storm inside. Order guards came out to se what was going on and were immediately attacked. Soon, the large room the Mai had broken into turned into a battlefield as more gunmen came, but the Mai continued beating them down. Valentina, Meredith and Alfred made their way swiftly through the building, moving downward since that was likely the place they were keeping the girls. _They had better be alright_. Valentina thought to herself, already having a plan if they weren't.

* * *

Felina growled as she tried to open the bars. Getting no luck, she slid down them with her back pressed to them. Looking at the other girls, she sighed and shook her head.

"Those bars are hopeless." Chloe sighed. "We'll have to wait until the other Mai come."

"I just want to find my sister." Felina murmured. "I just need to know that Safire is alive and unhurt and I will be happy."

"Someone say my name?" a voice said in the next cage over. Looking through the adjoining bars, all three gasped to see a bruised, tan girl with light strawberry-blonde hair and electric blue eyes looking at them wearily.

"Safire!" Felina gasped, running to the bars.

"I know who I am." Safire said, standing. "Who are you?"

"Safire it's me. It's Felina."

"Lili?" Safire gasped. "Oh, I haven't seen you since just before my tenth birthday when Mama brought you over. You were still seven then; you were so small and fragile looking. It's been ten years, how are you?"

"I'm doing much better now that I can see mis hermanos mayores."

Safire smiled and then sighed. "But we're all trapped." She said. "There's no way to get out."

"Wait." Chloe said, standing. "What if we all tried moving the bas apart together? Jasmine, Felina and I could bend the bars on our part of the cage and then break the lock on yours."

Safire nodded. "It could work."

The three girls slowly began bending the bars. It took five minutes to bend one side and another eight to bend the other. Chloe sighed in relief as she stepped out and went over to a trashcan. Picking it up, she slowly banged it against the lock on Safire's cell until it broke. "Thank you…"

"Chloe." Chloe said, holding out her hand. "And this is Jasmine. It's nice to meet you Safire. Felina hasn't told us much about you."

Safire shot her sister a look and Felina said, "I'll explain when we're out of here. For now, we need to speak to the leader of this section of the order."

"Wait," Safire said. "Just a few questions."

"I'll answer them on our way up." Felina said.

"What are you?"

"You mean what are WE. You, sis, are part of a society of Bastet offspring called Mai. We have cat-like abilities such as seeing very well at night, retractable fingernail claws, enhanced strength, speed, smell, and hearing, resistance to most poisons and landing on our feet almost all the time."

Felina paused for breath as they ran up a flight of stairs. "Chloe is the Uniter, the one to unite the Prides and end the human-Mai war. The Order is out to kill all Mai for reasons unknown to anyone, even the leaders of the different branches. Even though our father didn't know it, he was also a Mai, which explains why he lived when Mom kissed him. Anything else?"

"No, you've answered everything for now." Safire said as they finally made it to the top floor. Entering the last room at the end of the hall, the four girls went into fighting crouches and advanced on the chair turned away from them.

"¿Quien es?" an orotund, accented voice demanded in a bored tone.

"It's the Uniter." Safire replied.

The chair turned to reveal a man that looked a bit like Alfred except lankier, with thin feeble features and cold black eyes.

Felina and Safire both gasped and took steps back. "Papa?" they asked in shocked horror.

"Ah, my daughters. You seem to have broken out of my prison cells. Now tell me, which of you is the Uniter? Felina?"

Felina shook her head. "Actually, it's my cousin, Chloe."

The man raised an eyebrow. "How is she your cousin? Your mother didn't have any brothers or sisters."

"You are a Mai Papa." Safire said. "That's why you didn't die when mother kissed you."

The man laughed. "Right, I see. So I am supposed to be a part of the race, I've been working so hard to end? Very vivid imaginations the two of you have."

"No Papa, it isn't our imagination. You would be dead if you weren't Mai. Mother's kiss would have killed you."

The man's eyes darkened. "The joke is over, now show me this Uniter."

Safire opened her mouth to say more, but Felina shook her head. They parted to let Jasmine and Chloe through; the man appraised them.

"So one of you-."

"Her." Jasmine said, pointing calmly at Chloe.

"-is supposed to save this miserable race and make peace with humans?"

Chloe took a step forward. "Mai don't cause much harm, sir." She said politely. "We just want to live, same as humans. We were wondering if you could call all this off. I mean, downstairs, your troops are risking their lives against an army of Spanish Mai. You could stop that right now and instead work on stopping people like thieves, who rob banks and murderers, who kill in cold blood."

"Mai don't kill in cold blood?" The man demanded. "The mother of those two filthy creatures behind you killed my heart. I loved her and she betrayed me. Now I won't stop until that entire race is wiped out."

Felina stepped forward. "You won't be able to do that, Papa." She said. "There will always be more Mai."

The man stood and walked forward until he was right in front of her. "I will wipe them out." He snarled in her face.

"And I will stop you." Felina growled, her eyes slits through the eyeholes in her mask. The man slapped her roughly across the cheek and Felina's head snapped to the side. She slowly turned to face him again and nodded.

"If that's how you want it, Papa." She said sliding gracefully into a fighting crouch. "Bailamos!"

* * *

**Daddy Dearest, you're going down! Next chapter is the fight between Felina and her dad. Can't wait to write it. Review here and tell me how you like meeting Felina's sister and Dad.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter twelve**

Valentina stabbed yet another guard and looked into the room. "Where could they be?" she asked in frustration at seeing no signs of the three missing Mai.

"Maybe they escaped and went up to talk to the leader?" Meredith suggested, thoroughly relieved that they hadn't seen the girls down here.

"Imposible!" Alfred exclaimed. "There has never been a way out of these cells. None of the Mai captured have ever come back."

Valentina sighed. "Let's check the leader anyway." They turned and began making their way back up the stairs.

* * *

Felina growled as more claws tore into her shirt. She batted at her father with her own claws and slashed another scratch down his arm. Most of her shirt had been ripped away and she had completely shredded her father's.

_Now I know where I get my fighting skills from._ Felina thought as she ducked and dodged multiple quick attacks.

Ducking low and slashing upward, she manages to catch her father in the soft spot under his chin. He moved back a bit with a growl. Felina glared at him as he wiped the blood away. Just as he was jumping forward to knock her backward into a wall, Felina bent backwards until her hands were flat on the ground and she kicked her feet into the air; instead of hitting her father, they wrapped around his waist and slowed him down. Then, she twisted her body around and slammed him into the ground using her legs. He lay there dazed for a moment as Felina stood.

As the masked woman made to move away, the downed man jumped up and tackled her. Felina hissed as she felt his claws digging into her sides. Rolling over, she punched him in the jaw three times before he caught her hands and flipped her off him. Felina landed on her back and her father pounced on her, beating at her face and chest. Raising her feet, Felina kicked him in the stomach and threw him into a wall. As she was moving away, her father made to attack, but only managed to rip the top half of her jeans away. Felina gasped as her tail was released and snarled at him in anger.

"What is the matter, Felina?" her father taunted, panting heavily. "Afraid I'll expose you to your little friends? Let them see how hideous you are?"

Felina growled and lunged at him, batting him in the jaw and chest as he clawed at her face. At last, Felina punched her father in the jaw and stood over him, panting heavily. Her clothes were little more than shredded rags hanging off her body, but she still stood over him.

"They already know." She hissed through the only article of clothing still standing, her mask.

The man stood with a bit of effort and glared at her. As Felina turned around, he lifted a knife high above his head and began swinging it toward his daughter's back.

* * *

**Clifford Cliffhanger! Sorry, you have to wait until next chapter to see what happens. Review and tell me what you thought of this chapter. Hope you liked it!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Here's the next chapter. Didn't want you guys to be waiting for too long. Check Check Check it out.**

* * *

**Chapter thirteen **

Valentina and Meredith looked around for a moment as they came to the top floor. "Which room?" Alfred asked, looking around.

A loud, "No!" from the room at the end of the hall answered his question and all three adults began racing for that room.

Bursting inside, they were surprised to find Felina and a man standing only a hair-length away from each other and staring into each other's eyes with pure, absolute hatred. As the three adults watched, Felina pulled her arm back and the man slowly dropped to the ground with a stab wound deep in his stomach.

Jasmine watched in utter horror, remembering how that was exactly how Alek looked when he was killed. "No," she whispered. "Alek!"

Valentina looked at her in confusion and saw the glazed look in her daughter's eyes. "Jasmine, don't-."

Just as before, Jasmine didn't listen and jumped at Felina with her claws drawn. Sinking them deep into the other girl's back, Jasmine tore at Felina's fur as Felina screamed in pain. Valentina was about to jump in and stop her daughter when a blonde blur rushed forward and pulled Jasmine away. Chloe pulled jasmine off to the side and stared deep into the other girl's eyes.

"Stay calm, Jasmine." Chloe breathed. "You don't want to do something you'll regret."

Slowly, Jasmine calmed down and blinked. "Did I hurt her too bad?" she asked, knowing what had happened immediately.

"No," Felina coughed, slowly getting to her feet. She walked over to them, limping slightly because of a cut on her hindpaw.

"I'm sorry." Jasmine told her. Felina waved away the apology.

"Are you ok now?" she asked. Jasmine nodded as she and Chloe stood.

"Thanks Cousin." Felina said, turning to Chloe who shrugged.

"No problem. I couldn't let her do something she would regret later."

Felina nodded. "The leader of this branch of the Order is dead." She said to Alfred. "Did he have a second-in-command we could talk with?" Alfred shook his head as Raton, Tristan and two others raced inside.

"Dad?" Raton shouted. "Wait, how did he-?" he turned to Felina.

"He was going to take another of my lives." Felina said. "I need ll of mine to help our cousin."

Raton nodded and looked at everyone in the room. "Safire!" he exclaimed happily, running to her and giving her a hug.

"Raton, es muy bien ver tú!" Safire said, hugging him back. Tristan looked at Chloe and she smiled at him. He returned it and turned to Alfred, speaking to him about what was going to happen now.

"We are going to go speak to what remains of the soldiers and ask them to help us rebuild our Pride and help the Uniter end this war with the humans."

He nodded to Chloe and she beamed back. Walking downstairs, the group saw that most of the warriors were dead and only a few Mai were dead as well. Alfred walked out and cleared his throat.

The remaining warriors turned to him and he began speaking. "Your leader is dead. We were wondering if you wanted to strike up a deal with us?" The warriors grunted and shrugged. "We want your help to end this war between the Mai and the humans. We want you to help us rebuild our place within the human society. Please, we need your help."

One of the warriors stepped forward. "How do we know you won't kill us?" he asked.

"Because we are usually peaceful, but you attacked us first and so we attacked back."

The warrior nodded slowly. "Alright, we'll help you. But what are humans supposed to do for super humans?"

"You can help us prove to the rest of Spain that we are neither dangerous nor trying to overpower them. We merely wish for peace."

The warrior nodded and Alfred slowly held out his hand. The warrior hesitantly took it and they shook on the deal.

Chloe sighed in relief and asked, "Can we go back to the hideout now? I'm tired after trailing guards and fighting guards and then watching Felina fight her dad…"

"That man you killed was your Father?" Alfred asked in astonishment.

Felina nodded. "It was my present to him for kicking me out of my home. I hope he's rotting in hell right now. El Diablo is too good for him."

Raton and Safire put their arms around her shoulders and she hugged them. "So, are we cousins with the Uniter as well or is it just you that's so special?" Safire asked.

"Just me." Felina chuckled. "Come on, let's get back to the hideout so we can all have a nice long nap."

The Mai nodded and allowed the warriors to follow them down into the sewers. Safire moved a bed into the room with the other three girls and they all fell asleep upon hitting the pillow.

* * *

**There, Daddy Dearest is dead and Felina's alive. Everything works out for everyone. Review and tell em what you think while I try to decide how the next chapter will go.**


	14. Chapter 14

**Thanks for waiting, y'all. It took me awhile to figure out the next Pride of Mai. But here it is!**

* * *

**Chapter fourteen**

Chloe sighed as the group boarded the plane two days later. After some negotiations, the group had gone from having seven members to having ten; Safire and Raton had insisted on joining their little sister after not seeing her for a long time and Tristan was going on Alfred's orders to help the team with the French clan. Chloe was happy for this because then she would be able to take her mind off Jasmine.

As they all boarded the plane, Chloe sat next to Tristan and Safire sat next to Felina, leaving Raton to take the seat next to Jasmine. The tan girl stared out the window and didn't even acknowledge his presence as he sat down. Raton turned in his seat to talk to Felina and Safire about what's been happening the past several months. Jasmine stared sadly out the window as she listened to Tristan teaching Chloe some common French phrases just in case she got lost in the city.

_I know French._ Jasmine thought. _And I won't leave her side. Why does she need him to help her?_ Sighing, Jasmine tuned the two out and listened to the conversation going on between the three siblings.

"…can't tell her?" Safire was asking.

"No, it would completely disable the prophecy if they found out." Felina replied.

"But wouldn't it slowly eat away at her?" Raton asked.

"It would, and fate would try and make it known, but neither can know. They have to figure it out on their own."

"This is horrible." Safire said softly. "Poor Jasmine. And she loves Chloe too."

"How could you tell?" Felina asked softly, not even surprised.

"It's the way she looks at the girl, how she's so protective over Chloe. This must be hard on her seeing them together."

Jasmine sighed and stood moving further back into the plane. Chloe caught sight of her and asked, "Where are you going?"

"Middle class." Jasmine growled, storming behind the curtain. She went to the very back and plopped down in a seat.

_I'm not meant for her._ Jasmine thought sadly. _Tristan is her chosen, the one she's supposed to be with. _Jasmine felt wetness on her cheeks and wiped the tears away angrily.

"I will not let this hinder me." Jasmine snarled to herself. "I will remain her CPO until I die, whether she's with him or not."

Jasmine stood and strode back into the first class and began making her way to her seat. She glanced at Chloe and stopped dead in her tracks; Chloe was kissing Tristan. Or maybe Tristan was kissing Chloe since he had her pressed against the window.

Jasmine grit her teeth against the pain and took her seat next to Raton. Safire, Felina and Raton were watching her as she looked out the window. Jasmine felt like the pain was burning into her stomach and clutched it for a moment before sighing as it slowly faded.

"Stomach feeling ok, Jasmine?" Safire asked.

Jasmine nodded and replied, "Small stomachache, that's all. It passed."

Safire nodded, still watching her closely. Jasmine slowly lifted her shirt to rub her stomach and stopped when she felt scars. Looking down, Jasmine's eyes widened when she saw a black curve adorning her tan skin.

"What's up, Jasmine?" Raton asked, glancing at her.

"Just a scar I must have gotten during my fight with Felina." Jasmine replied, hurriedly patting down her shirt.

Raton nodded, also watching her closely. Jasmine slowly drifted to sleep, trying to figure out what the scar could mean.

* * *

Chloe pulled out of the kiss with a smile. It hadn't invoked the same feeling of warmth in her chest that she had had with Alek, nor the warmth spreading to her stomach like with her first and last kiss with Brian, nor the full body warmth and security of her dream kisses with Jasmine, but it was enough to make her think something could happen with the boy.

Tristan grinned at her and leaned in again. Chloe moaned slightly and pressed into the kiss, putting her arms around Tristan's neck.

"Chloe King!"

Chloe gasped and pulled away from the kiss to see her mother looking over at her with a raised eyebrow. "Hey Mom," she said sheepishly.

"We are on a PUBLIC plane, Chloe." Meredith told her. "I understand a new love intrigues you, but there are other people around."

Chloe blushed and nodded, glancing at Jasmine to make sure the other girl hadn't overheard the conversation. The tan girl was snoozing peacefully against the window, her chest rising and falling smoothly. Safire, Raton, and Felina were giggled as they watched her and Chloe ducked her head. She turned back to Tristan and he smiled. "Alright," he said. "Let's work on more of your French, shall we?"

Chloe nodded and began listening closely to what he was saying. As the plane touched down, Chloe nodded and stretched, cracking her neck. "Let's see if any of that made any sense to me." She said as she and Tristan stood.

Everyone grabbed their bags and they set out for the airport. Amy and Paul smiled as they looked around; Amy was excited about the shopping trips she would be taking while Paul was staring around at all of the hot French woman around him. Safire, Raton, and Felina each wore masks, the two older siblings because they wanted to make their sister feel more comfortable. Valentina stayed close to Meredith as the other woman stared around her in wonder. Jasmine followed close behind Chloe as the blonde girl walked with Tristan. As they entered the city Chloe saw multiple people with pointed ears and constricted eyes walking around.

"It seems the Mai are the dominant species here." She said to Jasmine. The tan girl nodded and pulled aside a black-haired man with green eyes and pale skin. Quickly asking him in French if he could take them to the leader of the Mai, she led the others after him.

"I didn't know you could speak French." Chloe said quietly as she walked beside Jasmine.

"My mom made me take it in both middle and high school as well as two years of Spanish." Jasmine replied brusquely. Chloe ducked her head at not knowing that her friend took a foreign language. The black-haired man led them to a large building deep in Paris where there were multiple Mai moving in out and about.

"Merci." Jasmine said to him, entering the building with the others close behind.

Chloe stayed close to Tristan as Jasmine took the lead confidently. The Mai they passed watched them curiously and began following them. Felina, Safire, Raton, and Valentina got a bad feeling for the other humans and stayed close to Amy, Paul and Meredith. Chloe continued following Jasmine and moving slowly closer to the girl as they moved further into the building. When Jasmine finally stopped in front of a large mahogany door, Chloe was right next to her, their arms almost touching.

"We're here." Jasmine said, knocking on the door.

"Un momente." A light voice said inside. There were soft footsteps and a tanned man with sharp blue eyes and a small smile opened the door. His features were sharp, but not too angular and he had a slight mustache on his top lip.

"May I 'elp you?" he asked in a thick French accent.

"Yes, are you the leader of this Mai Pride?" Jasmine asked calmly.

"That would be me. I am Jacque Delaque. What is your business 'ere?"

Valentina came forth to stand next to her daughter. "Hello, Jacque." She said curtly. "May we come in?"

Jacque looked around at their group and noticed Meredith, Paul and Amy. "'umans!" he hissed, shifting into a fighting crouch. Felina, Safire, and Raton shifted into crouches as well and snarled at him. Jacque's eyes widened as Chloe came forward.

"Why do you protect zem?" he demanded of Valentina.

"Because one of them is my mother." Chloe told him coldly. "And the other two are my best friends. Now, may we come in or are you going to fight?"

Jacque's lips pulled back and he said, "You may come in."

Chloe nodded and ushered the others in before she, Valentina and Jasmine strode in after them. "What is your business 'ere, Valentina?" he demanded grumpily.

"We have brought the Uniter." Valentina said, putting a hand on Chloe's shoulder.

Jacque nodded, staring at Chloe appraisingly. "Interesting indeed," he murmured. "Are you eighteen yet?" he asked, turning his chair to face the window.

"No," Chloe said. "I'm still sixteen."

"What?" Jacque demanded, turning back around and standing. "You are new and you 'ave ze audacity to come 'ere and say you are ze Uniter?"

Chloe took a step back with a small sliver of fear in her eyes. "I will tell you right now zat you cannot possibly unite anyzing since you are merely un enfant Mai. You- Ah!"

Jasmine glared at him as she held him by the lapels of his shirt. "You listen to me and you listen good," she growled, her face mere inches from his. "You won't speak to her that way because she is down to six lives and she doesn't have time for people like you to be criticizing her work. She has already united New York and Spain. If you don't want her to help France with its branch of the Order then we will be going."

"We don't need 'elp!" Jacque spat. "We are out in ze open. Our Order is ze one zat is 'iding because my attackers eat zem!"

* * *

**That is just sick and wrong... but that apparently is the French Clan. Review and tell me what you think!**


	15. Chapter 15

My Laptop seems to be having some malfunctions with the website, but heres the next chapter for all of you reading. Check it out!

* * *

**Chapter fifteen**

Chloe felt sick to her stomach. "You let your attack parties **eat** the warriors?" she gasped.

"It gets rid of zem easily and my Mai aren't starving obviously."

"That's disgusting!" Amy whimpered, holding her stomach.

Jacque turned to her. "You shut your mouth filzy 'uman! 'ow do you zink France became so full of Mai? We give many of ze 'umans ze deadly kiss and zen eat zem so zat zere are more graves for ze Mai. We will not be like zose ozzer countries where ze Order is still killing zem off. Zose countries are pazzetic and should be annihilated anyway."

"Watch what you're talking about!" Tristan screamed. "Spain was being overrun with those men who were trying to kill the Mai. Now, thanks to the Uniter, Spain's tribe is rebuilding itself with the help of the last remaining Order members."

"See? Zat means zat you destroyed your Order."

"Only because they were killing us off first. Had our numbers not dwindled so far down then we would probably be living just fine with the Order."

"We will not let zem kill us off. My Mai are going to the 'ideout tonight and attacking ze leader of ze Order. You may eizzer join us or stay at our 'eadquarters, but make no mistake: if you work against us, you will be destroyed. You are dismissed. Someone will direct you all to your rooms."

Jasmine's jaw clenched as she dropped him and gave a snort of disgust before following the others out. As they were led through the halls, many of the Mai eyed the four humans hungrily. "I think a Mai should stay in a room with Amy and Paul." Valentina said.

"What about my mom?" Chloe asked.

"She'll be with me." Valentina said confidently. "But if it will make you feel better one of you can stay with us as well."

"I'll go with Amy and Paul." Raton said.

"I'll go with Meredith and Valentina." Safire added.

"I'm bunking with Jasmine and Chloe again." Felina told them.

Tristan looked uncertain for a moment. "I can stay on one side of the room and the girls could stay on the other?" he asked indecisively.

"Or you could go with Raton." Felina said, noting the growing loath in Jasmine's eyes.

Tristan nodded. "Yes, that sounds bueno." He gave Chloe a long, lingering goodnight kiss before following Raton, Amy, and Paul.

Felina turned to see Jasmine racing down the hall for the bathroom. Running after her, Felina found Jasmine vomiting her plane lunch. Rubbing the other girl's back, Felina cooed to her. When she had vomited everything in her stomach, Jasmine gave a few dry heaves before standing and wiping her mouth. She turned into Felina's waiting embrace and let out a few sobs.

"It hurts!" she mumbled into Felina's coat. "My stomach hurts!"

Felina rubbed her back soothingly and said, "Let me see."

Jasmine hesitated before slowly lifting her shirt. Felina gasped at the black scar adorning the otherwise flawless tan skin. Turning her head, Felina found that it was actually a bit of cursive writing: a C and an H. "Oh dear," she breathed. "Chica, you need to tell your mother pronto."

Jasmine shook her head frantically. "She already has enough on her plate. She doesn't need this added to it."

Felina sighed. "Así, but tell me if it gets worse, comprendes?"

Jasmine nodded. "You're speaking more Spanish." The tan girl commented as Felina helped her back to their room.

Felina shrugged. "I guess spending those few days in Spain brought me back to when I was living on the streets with my mom and had to speak Spanish for food, instead of English."

They found Chloe doubled-over near her bed, holding her stomach painfully.

"You okay?" Felina asked worriedly.

"Y-yeah," Chloe replied, coughing slightly. "I-I think I'll lay down until dinner." She said, climbing onto the bed nearest the window. Felina nodded and led Jasmine over to the bed in the middle. Jasmine collapsed on the bed and looked at Felina gratefully.

"I think we should all get some sleep before tonight. We have a hard decision to make."

The other two girls nodded and drifted into sleep almost immediately. Felina lay in bed and turned to watch them both as Chloe began whimpering in her sleep.

"No," she mumbled. "Please, don't leave me. I need you!"

As Chloe continued tossing and turning, Felina slowly stood and began making her way over to the poor girl. As she got closer, Felina saw that Chloe's shirt had ridden up and what she saw made her gasp; prominent against the pallor of Chloe's skin, there was a scar adorning the girl's stomach and from what Felina could tell, the letters spelled JAS.

"This is very bad." She whispered, putting a hand on Chloe's shoulder. "Chloe, wake up." She said, shaking the girl awake.

Chloe shot up and looked around. "Jasmine!" she sighed in relief at seeing the other girl sleeping soundly in the bed next to her.

"Chloe, you were screaming in your sleep." Felina told her, exaggerating a little. "Is everything ok?"

Chloe looked up at her with tired eyes. "Everything is f-fine, Felina." She muttered, looking down to avoid the older girl's eye. "Just a small nightmare."

"Wanna talk about it?" Felina asked.

Chloe shook her head and replied, "I think I'll be fine. I just need a bit more sleep. How long until we have to go out in search of the Order's hideout?"

"Another hour until Jacque's forces attack." Felina told her.

Chloe sighed. "I think I'll sleep for a little longer."

Felina nodded and rubbed her back until she went to sleep. Just as Felina was lying down again, she heard a small noise and slowly looked toward the door; it was opening. Flipping out of bed, Felina crept to the door and stood against the wall behind it. Using her claws, she climbed the wall and looked over the door to see who had opened it.

Spying Tristan, Felina raised an eyebrow and watched as he slowly crept into the room, trying hard not to make a sound. When he got to Chloe's bed, he climbed in next to her and began rubbing her back slowly. Felina climbed back down the wall and watched Tristan carefully. As he rubbed further down Chloe's back, Felina growled and crept to the edge of the bed. His hand slowly moved to the front and began massaging Chloe's stomach before moving lower to the front of her jeans. Before he could get the zipper down, Felina grabbed his hand and flung him into the wall. Tristan shook his head, dazed for a moment.

"How dare you?" Felina snarled furiously. "You are Spanish! We have a pride to uphold!"

"Ella es muy hermosa." Tristan muttered. "Besides, she is sleep. She would not even have known."

Felina snarled and went down on all four of her paws. "Get out." She ordered. "Before I rip you to shreds."

"I do not think the Uniter would like that." Tristan smirked.

"You aren't her chosen so it wouldn't matter whether she liked it or not." Felina retorted, sharpening her claws on the floorboards. Tristan's eyes widened and he nodded, hurrying out.

Felina sniffed in disgust and muttered, "Can never find a good Spaniard anymore. Where has the honor gone?" Positioning herself in front of the door, Felina kept watch until Chloe and Jasmine woke up.

"Felina, why are you still up?" Chloe asked.

"I got a bad feeling and decided to keep watch over you two." Felina replied, not wanting to tell Chloe about Tristan's groping.

Chloe cocked her head and nodded slowly, surveying the girl slowly. When jasmine and Chloe were ready, Felina led them down the hall to Valentina and Meredith's room. Safire opened the door when she knocked and the four girls looked at Meredith and Valentina. The two were snoozing happily on the bed.

"They look cozy." Chloe stated, raising an eyebrow at Meredith being snuggled into Valentina's embrace and Valentina protectively wrapped around her mom.

"They do." Jasmine nodded. "Mom?" she called softly, so as not to raise alarm. Valentina stirred slightly and opened her eyes.

"What do you need Jasmine?" she asked.

"It's almost time for the French clan to attack the Order." Jasmine replied.

Valentina nodded. "Raton has agreed to stay here and help me protect Amy, Paul and Meredith. You seven go four, along with Tristan, go ahead with the French clan. But don't fight the Order. Try to fight against the Mai so that we can dwindle their size a bit. Then get to the leader and protect him. Understood?"

The girls nodded and went across the hall to get Raton and Tristan.

"Tristan, you're with us." Jasmine told him.

"Raton, be careful. We don't know yet what these Mai are capable of." Felina told him. Raton nodded and slid his mask on as Safire did the same.

"Ready to go?" Chloe asked. The others nodded and they made their way to the front of the building to await the attacking Mai. The horde of Mai appeared moments later with Jacque at the lead.

"So you 'ave decided to aide us?" Jacque asked. "Wise choice. Let us go and destroy our enemies once and for all." The group nodded and followed the French Mai out.

* * *

**Review and tell em what you think!**


	16. Chapter 16

Here's the next chapter. Sorry, it's sorta medium but I think you'll like it.

* * *

**Chapter sixteen**

Chloe and Jasmine ran along the hallway after the assassins that were supposed to kill the leader of the Order. Felina, Safire and Tristan were still fighting the Mai alongside the Order without drawing too much attention to themselves.

"Almost there." One of the assassins said to his companion.

The girls sped up and found themselves in a large spacious room filled with numerous weapons. Chloe looked around and found a quivering hand just barely visible behind an enormous shield. Creeping over to the shield, she stood protectively in front of it while looking around, feigning searching for the order leader. As the two assassins came toward her, Chloe looked at them and stood in front of the shield.

"Move out of the way." One of them said. Chloe shook her head. "You are protecting him?" the other growled incredulously.

"He doesn't deserve to die." Chloe replied, shifting into a full fighting crouch.

"And why not?" the first one demanded, shifting into a fighting crouch as well. "He wanted to kill our species!"

"Yes, and now you want to **eat** him." Chloe spat. "I won't let you kill him and I want some negotiation going on between him, me and Jacque. Otherwise, you aren't touching him."

The two Mai snarled and simultaneously leaped at Chloe. Raising her hands, Chloe punched one in the stomach and the other in the chest, making them fall to their feet and stagger for a moment. At this time, Jasmine ran over and knocked one of them out with a perfectly thrown nun chuck. The other one advanced on Chloe and began throwing punches. Chloe dodged as best she could and deflected a punch aimed at her chest with a punch of her own, aimed at his face. The Mai screamed in pain at a bloody nose before swiping at Chloe with his claws, making a trail of blood dribble down her cheek.

Chloe tried to dodge his next attack, but was slammed into the large shield protecting the Order leader. Groaning, Chloe looked up to find the Mai right in front of her. He reached down and clutched her throat as he lifted her up. Chloe gasped for breath as her feet dangled a few inches above the ground. The man grinned maliciously as he squeezed harder and Chloe saw darkness at the edge of her vision. Trying to get his hand away from her throat, Chloe coughed and cried feebly for help. The darkness was getting closer and Chloe was going limp. With one last squeeze, the darkness engulfed her and Chloe died again.

* * *

Jasmine ran at the man strangling Chloe and smashed his head into the ground. She had been disposing of the other assassin when she heard Chloe's last plea for help. Now, she looked over and found Chloe dead. "No," she whispered. "Chloe, come back."

The assassin slowly got to his feet and slashed at Jasmine's back. She rolled aside to avoid the blow and scratched across his mouth. He screamed as his lips bled and his claws began swinging wildly. Jasmine ducked and dodged the slashes, but one particular swipe caught her in the face and she screamed her pain. Jumping at the Mai, Jasmine looked through the blood flowing into her eye and broke his neck. The hulking figure fell to the ground with a thump and Jasmine turned to the shield.

"You can come out now." She said to the still hiding leader. "It's safe."

He slowly crawled out and looked around. "Thank you." He said in a light quivery voice. "I'm terribly sorry about your friend though."

At that moment, Chloe opened her eyes and moaned. "That hurt." She commented, slowly getting to her feet.

"You are alive?" the man asked incredulously.

"Yeah, five lives left now." Chloe murmured. "Come on, we need you to come and talk to the leader of the French Mai so that we can settle some peace between the two of you."

The man nodded hesitantly and let the two girls lead him down the passageway. Jasmine checked to make sure all of the Mai were subdued before leading the other two out. "Where are my assassins?" Jacque demanded.

"Dead." Jasmine retorted. "Now, you are going to make some plans with this guy so that the peace can be settled between your two races."

"And why would I do that?" Jacque sneered.

"Because I just lost another life at the hands of one of your Mai and I doubt the Spanish and New York Mai would like to hear that." Chloe said in a dangerously low tone. "Not to mention the Mai still back in San Francisco. So I suggest that you begin negotiating or I'll have to tell Alfred and Josef that a French Mai killed me. Their combined Prides will decimate yours so why don't you have a nice talk with this guy?"

Jacque glared at her, but nodded all the same. "Safire, can you watch them?" Chloe asked wearily. Safire nodded and oversaw the negotiations.

"Where's Tristan?" Chloe asked, looking around for the blond boy.

"I'm sorry Chloe," Felina said softly. "But during the fight, one of the Mai got their claws around his neck, dug in and ripped his head off before I could get to him."

Chloe nodded, tears forming in her eyes. She quickly wiped them away and looked to Jasmine. The other girl was looking away from them and touching her face gently.

"Jasmine?" Chloe asked slowly. Jasmine didn't turn and Chloe touched the girl's shoulder. Jasmine turned her head slightly, but wouldn't face them. Felina reached over to turn her around and Chloe gasped. The cut down Jasmine's face had inflamed and had spread to her left eye.

"We need to get you to Valentina!" Chloe exclaimed, noting the fading brown in Jasmine's eye.

"But what about negotiations?" Jasmine asked slowly.

"Felina can help Safire, you are coming with me." Chloe grabbed Jasmine's hand and hurried her back to the Mai headquarters.

"Valentina!" Chloe screamed, fearing that time was of the essence and having none spared to run Jasmine through the numerous hallways. Valentina and Meredith came running with Paul, Amy and Raton not too far behind.

"Jasmine!" Valentina gasped, stopping instantly at the sight of her daughter. "What did they do to you?"

"I think his claws had a fast-acting poison in them." Jasmine replied softly. "My immune system should kick in soon."

"Not soon enough!" Valentina hissed. "How's your eye?"

Jasmine looked at her and said, "I can only see shadows right now."

Valentina shook her head and pulled her daughter along the hall to a restroom. Moving to the sink, Valentina turned on the cold water, cupped her hands and slowly filled her hands. Gently patting the water onto Jasmine's wound, she began washing out the poison and helping Jasmine's immune system. The others took the hint and began doing the same, taking turns bringing water to Jasmine. When Valentina finally said to stop, everyone looked to Jasmine and sighed in relief at how well the plan had been working. Jasmine's scratch marks were almost gone and her eye was slowly returning to brown.

"Thank you." She murmured, swaying slightly.

"Come," Valentina commanded. "We had all better get some sleep before Jacque and his forces come back."

Everyone nodded and headed to bed. Chloe keeping a watchful eye on Jasmine, decided not to sleep and instead stayed awake to make sure the other girl had a calm slumber. As she stayed awake, Chloe wondered why she was so concerned for Jasmine. _Maybe because she's one of my best friends._ Chloe thought to herself. Nodding, she continued watching Jasmine until Valentina called them to go.

* * *

Jasmine's ok! Review and tell me what you think of how Chloe dealt with this Clan.


	17. Chapter 17

**_Alright, Chapter seventeen for you. Thanks for being patient with me. Enjoy._**

**_Oh and to Nightfire87, she'll find out near the end. If not then, then she'll find out in the last seuqel._**

* * *

**_Chapter seventeen_**

Felina watched Chloe through the window to their room as the other girl watch Jasmine. _She's beginning to feel it._ The ex-assassin thought gleefully.

"It was tough getting Tristan out of the way, but I couldn't have him detaining their progress any further. It was too easy going back to my assassinating roots, but thanks to Chloe and Jasmine and this **damn** collar, I can keep them in check. Now, to make sure the negotiations went well before Jacque comes home."

Felina flipped backwards off the windowsill and landed on all fours below. Running easily to the Order's hideout, she found Jacque coming out with the Order's leader next to him. The remaining Mai from the battle escorted them out with Safire staying close to the leader of the Order.

"Have the arrangements been made?" Felina asked, walking up to them.

"Yes," Jacque said resentfully. "The humans will be allowed to regenerate their French population while the Mai don't produce anymore children. Gradually, the human population and the Mai population will slowly become close to equal and the two races will live in peace until the humans do something to upset the Mai."

Felina snarled. "And the humans will do no such thing because they wish to live. And the Mai will not attack or **eat** the humans at all. You will live in harmony, correct?" Jacque looked to the human next to him and nodded, his lip curling slightly.

"Good. If the Uniter comes back in a year's time to find that the human population is dwindling then we will not only bring back Mai from San Francisco, but we will bring Mai from the Spanish and New York Prides as well. Not to mention Mai from the other prides we meet."

Jacque nodded, glaring daggers at Felina. "Come on, the rest your Pride should know what's going on." Everyone followed Felina as she led them through the streets, the Mai following her hanging their heads in defeat as they passed their peers. When Felina arrived at the headquarters, her friends and siblings were packed and ready to go.

"How'd it go?" Chloe asked.

"Purrfect." Felina giggled, hugging Chloe. "We need to do a bit of work between the Prides, but for now, the human/Mai war is beginning to end. Good job Chloe."

Chloe nodded and asked, "Where to next?"

"Ukraine." Valentina replied, looking at a world map. "Then to Russia and ending at Hong Kong."

Chloe nodded and sighed, hefting multiple bags. "Let's go." She said, nodding goodbye to Jacque.

"Thank you for letting us stay here." Meredith told him. Jacque merely shot her a look between hungry and angry and Meredith hurried to follow the others. Boarding the plane, Chloe sighed as she retook her seat next to Jasmine.

"What's wrong?" Jasmine asked softly.

"I feel bad about what happened to Tristan." Chloe replied. "I mean, I couldn't really love him yet, but I thought maybe…"

"He would grow to become something close to what Brian and Alek had been?" Jasmine suggested quietly.

Chloe looked at her and nodded. "Exactly."

Jasmine huffed silently and turned to face the window. Chloe looked up at her in confusion. Jasmine stared out the window sadly and wouldn't look at her. A searing pain cut through Chloe's stomach and she gritted her teeth as she grunted in pain.

"What's wrong?" Jasmine asked, her head turning to examine the blonde.

"N-nothing." Chloe said heavily. "Just a small stomach ache. I must have eaten something bad."

Jasmine nodded and asked, "Would you like me to rub it better?"

Chloe shook her head. "It should pass soon." She replied.

Jasmine nodded and continued staring out the window while Chloe looked straight ahead at the back of her mother's seat. Slowly, both girls drifted into sleep at the same time and leaned against each other. Felina and her siblings watched them carefully to make sure they didn't start having another jointed dream. As Chloe's first moan penetrated the air around them, Jasmine's moan followed immediately and the three siblings reached forward.

"Wait," Valentina said softly. "They aren't overly loud yet and most of the people on this section are either sleep or listening to music. They need the sleep, but if it gets too loud or too embarrassing," Felina nodded and sat back.

"J-Jasmine!" Chloe murmured as Jasmine's arms encircled her.

"Chloe!" Jasmine growled, nuzzling her face into Chloe's hair. As the two girls moved closer together, Felina and Safire got ready. Breathing heavily, both girls looked up with half-closed eyes and leaned in, kissing passionately. The two girls were about to shake them, when a quiet shout of "Oh my GOD!" caught their attention.

Amy was staring at Jasmine and Chloe with wide eyes. "Stop them!" she hissed. "Before Chloe wakes up!"

Felina and Safire nodded and were reaching for the two girls, but before they could do anything. Chloe opened her eyes fully and looked at Jasmine. Her eyes widened and she pulled away with a scream, waking Jasmine, who also screamed.

"What were you doing?" Chloe shouted.

"What do you mean?" Jasmine demanded. "What were YOU doing?" Both girls stared at each other in utter horror.

"Calm down," Felina said slowly.

"Paul!" Chloe called. Paul stared at her and Chloe stood. "Sit next to Jasmine." She commanded.

Paul nodded and traded seats with Chloe. Jasmine watched her go with tears in her eyes, but turned away and wiped them out of her eyes. Touching her lips softly, the tan girl smiled and glanced over at Chloe. _Well, even if she doesn't love me, that kiss was the highlight of my entire life_. Turning back toward the window, Jasmine drifted back to sleep, hoping her dream would come again.

* * *

**_THere you go. The next chapter should be coming soon. Review and tell em what you think._**


	18. Chapter 18

**_As promised, here you go!_**

* * *

**_Chapter eighteen_**

"Alright," Whitley said, pacing slowly as he spoke on the phone. "They're heading to Ukraine, which is the next place in which there is a Mai clan. How are you doing with the Mai in France, Sébastien?"

"Well, about that, Whitley…"

"Don't tell me she's got _you_ working with the Mai too!" Whitley exclaimed angrily.

"Well, she did save my life and they agreed to helps us replenish the human population. I see no reason to fight them unless they attack us. I'm sorry, old friend, but this will possibly be our last conversation. Good bye." 

Whitley growled as he slammed his phone shut. "This is ridiculous!" he roared. "How is she doing this so well? So far, she has united two clans of Mai with the humans and killed a leader of the Order in order to unite the third. She should be exhausted, yet she's still traveling! This girl is trickier than I thought."

"Well, then shouldn't we head to Ukraine?" Simone asked, sitting in a chair watching Whitley.

"No, we can't risk the Uniter seeing us. We must go to the next place she'll be at." He smiled at Simone.

"Russia."

* * *

Chloe stared around at all of the people in Ukraine. "Where are we?" she asked slowly, trying to make sure she had the right place.

"This is Ukraine, Chloe." Valentina told her, walking next to her.

"Wow, this place is really pretty." Amy breathed, looking around at the domed buildings.

"Anyone here know how to speak Russian?" Valentina asked, turning to the rest of the group. Everyone shook their heads, but Raton shifted before sighing.

"I do." He said. "While learning English, I took Russian because I thought the language was really great."

Valentina nodded to him and pulled aside a man with slightly pointed ears. "Can you ask him if he knows anything about Mai?" she asked.

Raton walked up and spoke to the man slowly. The man's expression brightened from confusion and fright to friendly.

He said something before Valentina lost some of her patience and asked, "Do you speak English?"

The man nodded and continued. "The Mai are friends of the humans here. My best friend is a Mai. Do you need to speak with the leader of the Order? Here, they only put Mai in prison if they have committed a crime, just like any other criminal."

"We would appreciate it if you could take us to the leader of the Order." Valentina said.

The man nodded and motioned for them to follow him. The group followed him through the streets and to a one story building with people moving about. The man led them inside and spoke briefly with a receptionist before leading them down the hall. He stopped in front of a mahogany door and knocked. When a stocky man with a small mustache and black hair opened the door, Valentina stepped forward and held out her hand. "Hello, do you speak English?"

The man nodded. "You are…?"

"I am Valentina Ramirez, from the San Francisco Mai clan."

"Ah, you are sent here for Whitley?"

Valentina shook her head. "Whitley hates my clan. We have brought the Uniter just in case you and the Mai needed help coexisting together. Do you happen to know where the Mai reside?"

The man nodded. "They are actually in this very building. Shall I buzz you in?" Valentina nodded gratefully. "By the way, I am Nikolas."

The voice from the communication device asked, "Bishkopas?"

"Yes, Orlando? We have some visitors from America that wish to speak to the both of us. Would you mind coming down?"

"Not at all, Nikolas."

The other line hung up and Nikolas smiled at the other nine inhabitants of the room. "Now, when Orlando comes, I believe some introductions are in order." Valentina nodded and turned to the others.

There was a knock at the door and Nikolas went to answer the door. In stepped a blonde man with bright blue eyes and a small blonde goatee. He smiled at the group and bowed gracefully before holding his hand out to Valentina. She shook it and gestured to her group. "Some of us come from San Francisco while others are form Spain. We have come to make sure that connections between the Mai and the humans are alright."

Orlando smiled and said, "And which of them is the Uniter?"

Valentina motioned for Chloe to come forward and, as a reflex, Jasmine moved forward as well. "Hi," the blonde said slowly "I'm Chloe, this is my friend Jasmine, my mom, Jasmine's mom Valentina, my best friends Paul and Amy, and our guards, Felina, Raton and Safire."

Orlando nodded to each in kind as Chloe pointed them out. "It is nice to meet you all and welcome to Ukraine. As you can see, the human and Mai relations here are fine. However, in our neighboring countries we have heard that human Mai relations are shifty. Is there anything we could do to help?"

"Well," Chloe said, thinking a moment. "You could visit the other countries and try to help maintain the peace between the two species. Especially in France; Jacque is having some trouble with human hostility. It would also help with inter-Pride relations as well."

Orlando nodded. "You have probably had a long journey from your native San Francisco. Perhaps you can sleep in our dormitory quarters and explore the beautiful city of Kiev."

Valentina smiled and said, "Thank you."

Orlando nodded and pressed a button on Nikolas' intercom system. "I need some escorts to take our American visitors to the dormitory quarters."

Within seconds there were seven knocks on the door. Orlando opened the door and smiled at his volunteers, all young Mai. "They only speak English, so try using as little Russian as you can around them. Please make them feel at home."

The Mai nodded and bowed graciously to the group. One Mai walked beside Valentina and Meredith, two stood along Amy and Paul, two walked a little behind Felina, Chloe and Jasmine, and the last two walked a bit ahead of Raton and Safire. Leading them through the building, the group of sixteen emerged into a spacious lounge room where most of the Mai and humans turned to them curiously. The guides didn't falter or stop, but merely kept going finally breaking away as they took their wards to the different wings.

"One-story building," Chloe muttered.

"Lots of halls." Jasmine and Felina finished quietly.

They nodded to one of the boys as they entered, but one of them cleared his throat. Felina was the only one to turn back and her eyes widened at the boy. He was buff, but not overly muscular with soft light brown hair and deep green eyes. He was tall, almost taller than her and his smile was full of straight white teeth. His eyes widened as he stared at her as well and Felina heard his breathing stop with her enhanced ears. They continued staring at each other, mesmerized by the other person until someone nearby cleared their throat. Felina jumped and blushed at being caught offguard.

"I am sorry." The boy said quietly a sheepish smile spreading across his face. "I am Dimitri. Dimitri Petrov."

"F-Felina." The flustered ex-assassin stuttered slightly.

"It was a pleasure to meet you, Felina."

"I-I guess I'll see you round, huh?" She said softly.

The boy raised her hand and kissed it. "Yes, you will. Have a good night, Felina."

"Same to you, Dimitri." Felina smiled through her mask as the boy closed the door behind him. She heard giggling and turned to see Jasmine and Chloe smirking at her.

"What?" she asked, setting her bags down on her bed.

"Nothing." Chloe said with a raised eyebrow.

"Nothing at all." Jasmine added.

"Tell me." Felina insisted.

"You and Dimitri seemed to be a bit cozy." Chloe ventured.

Felina blushed as she removed her mask. "He can't possibly like me, I mean look at me." Then her eyes became unsure. "Do-do you think he might like me?" she asked uncertainly.

"Definitely!" Jasmine said.

"He totally only had eyes for you. And you made the poor guy forget what he was going to say."

Felina looked down, her cheeks flaming as her whiskers twitched in delight.

"And I have a great way for you to see more of him." Chloe squealed, her eyes twinkling. Felina's ears flicked at this and she looked up at the other blonde curiously.

"How?" she asked eagerly.

"We take Amy,"

"And Safire," Jasmine intoned.

"And we have…"

* * *

**_Sorry about the cliffhanger, but once I'm finished editing the next chapter, it'll be coming. Review and tell me what you think about this turn of events for Felina._**


	19. Chapter 19

**_Cliffhanger is answered._**

* * *

"…**A SHOPPING TRIP**?" Felina demanded incredulously. "How is that supposed to help me with Dimitri? He's going to be _surrounded_ by hot girls!" Sinking onto her bed, Felina groaned and put her head in her hands. "He doesn't even know what I look like!" she whimpered.

"Felina, we know that he'll be surrounded by girls, but Amy's with Paul and Safire spent years with the Amazons, she's more into girls than boys. Relax." Chloe's seemingly soothing words did nothing for Felina's nerves.

"But what about you and Jasmine?" she asked, secretly trying to get the two to say the thing she was counting on. "You two aren't dating anyone."

"We'll go like we're dating each other."

Both Felina and Jasmine were surprised to hear that come out of Chloe's mouth. Normally, Chloe would have gone against the very prospect of her and Jasmine in a relationship, but Felina had been counting on this and she smiled slightly. "If you say so, Chloe. We'll try your idea out and if it doesn't, then… it doesn't."

Chloe snorted. "It'll work. Trust me. Now, since we don't have to make any negotiations between the Mai and the humans here, we can go tomorrow. You can invite Dimitri at breakfast and then we can all go."

"Sounds like a plan." Jasmine agreed, stretching out on her bed.

"Let's get some sleep." Chloe yawned. "We have a very eventful day planned tomorrow." She winked at Felina before turning toward the wall.

Felina laid on her back for another hour thinking about her impending 'date' with Dimitri. _Will he like me? Should I show him my face? Should I wait awhile? Will he run screaming if he finds out what I look like?_ These and many more questions ran around in Felina's head as she pondered what would happen tomorrow. Finally falling asleep, Felina smiled as she dreamed about green eyes, white teeth and a beautiful Ukrainian accent.

Chloe giggled as she watched Felina and Dimitri talk about the things in their different countries. "Well, the food in Ukraine is very good and kind of exotic. Though, you may want to stay away from the octopus tongue; it has cat whisker shavings in it to give it flavor."

"That doesn't offend some of the Mai?" Felina asked.

"Well, most of the Mai around here have whiskers." Dimitri replied.

"Really?" Felina inquired hopefully.

"Yes, we have pointy ears, whiskers and constricted eyes. I guess not all Mai species are the same, eh?"

Felina chuckled. "You've definitely got that right. I still don't know what species I am."

"Well, let me see." Dimitri said slowly. "I may be able to help you."

Felina looked down at her feet self-consciously. "I would rather not take off my mask." She mumbled.

Dimitri nodded. "It is your private business; you will ask for help when you feel you need to."

Felina looked into the blue eyes and nodded. "That's exactly it." She breathed. "It's usually really complicated to explain to others, but… you totally got it."

Dimitri shrugged. "You should pick out this dress." He said, motioning to a midthigh forest green halter dress.

"Why?" Felina asked in confusion, cocking her head to examine the dress.

"Because it brings out the green of such lovely eyes."

Felina blushed and wondered if a person could die from blushing too much. "Ok, I'll go try it on."

Taking the dress and moving toward the bedroom, Felina looked back and saw Dimitri watching. She smiled and disappeared behind one of the doors. Chloe and Jasmine moved forward, seeing this as their chance to manipulate the growing relationship so that it worked in Felina's favor.

"So Dimitri," Chloe said, moving to stand on one side of him.

"What do you do for fun around here?" Jasmine asked, moving to his other side.

"Well, sometimes I would go out to the market with my mom or I would do patrols for crime around the city. Other than that, I love to curl up on my bed and read a good book."

"What genres do you like?' Chloe asked, her interest piqued.

"I love murder mysteries." Dimitri said, turning to her. "Especially the ones where some top notch boss hires an assassin to kill his enemy." Jasmine and Chloe shot each other glances over Dimitri's shoulder, but quickly looked away before they burst into laughter.

"You have no idea how close to Felina you are." Chloe said stifling her laughter as best she could while Jasmine burst into silent giggles.

"What do you mean?"

"It would be better hearing it from her rather than us, but you're really close with those books. Felina's just your type."

"What?" a timid voice said. The trio turned to see Felina slowly walking toward them, nervously holding her trench coat shut.

"Let's see the pretty lady, then." Dimitri prompted.

Felina shifted ever so slightly before taking a breath and opening the trench coat. Knowing that she would have to model some clothes that day, Felina had shaved most of her fur that morning. Jasmine and Chloe, who had seen her completely naked with fur, were stunned to see the beautiful woman before them. From the long, smooth pale legs up the curvy hips to the smooth arms and the shaved neck, the only thing that gave away that this was Felina were the hat and her mask. And if they were stunned, Dimitri was downright breathless. As he began falling, Felina quickly reached forward and caught him.

"Whoa," he muttered. "More beautiful than I imagined."

He looked up at Felina with a smile and said, "I think you should buy it. It looks perfect on you."

Felina smiled up at him. "Thanks." She gushed, much different than her usual self. "I'll go change and then I'll pay for it."

As she left again. Dimitri turned back to Chloe and opened his mouth. Before he could say anything, a pair of kids running past nearly made Jasmine trip and she bumped Dimitri, making him stumble into Chloe. This would have been seen as fine, except he ended up kissing her and Felina was coming out of the dressing room at that moment. In her jubilance, Felina had clothed faster than normal and had come back out to find Dimitri kissing Chloe. Or Chloe kissing Dimitri; it didn't much matter because they were kissing and Felina felt her ears droop. Tossing the dress into the pile of clothes that needed to be put back on the shelf, she stormed out of the store. Chloe, who had pulled back from Dimitri once the initial shock was over and had stumbled over an apology as he did the same, saw Jasmine go after her.

"We have to follow Jasmine." The blonde girl told the blonde boy.

"Why?" Dimitri asked, looking around.

"Because Felina saw us accidentally kissing and thinks you don't like her the way she likes you. So we need to go clear this up and fast."

Dimitri nodded and the two raced after Jasmine and Felina. They caught up to the two as Felina fell to her knees sobbing in front of the large ornate glass fountain in the middle of the mall.

"How could I have ever thought he could have liked me?" she growled, splashing at the water to distort her own image. "That he wouldn't notice someone else?"

"Felina, it wasn't what you thought it was."

"Oh?" Felina hissed, turning on Jasmine. "She was kissing him or he was kissing her. Either way, they were kissing and that just proves that he likes Chloe and not her cousin. That's all I am, isn't it? The ex-assassin, the Uniter's cousin, the skilled killer gone good. No one cares who I really am! Everyone will always choose Chloe. And why not? She's pretty, she's not covered in fur, and she looks _normal_!"

Felina's temper finally got the better of her and she slammed her fists into the ground, succeeding in cracking the floor around her. The anger seeped into those cracks and left a shattered woman behind. "He likes Chloe." She murmured as Jasmine came forth.

"No, it was a misunderstanding." Jasmine told her.

"How?" Felina demanded weakly. "He was kissing her. That proves he likes her."

"No it doesn't." Dimitri said softly. Felina looked up to find him right in front of her. Jasmine moved to Chloe's side as Dimitri knelt next to the saddened woman. "It was accidental." He told her gently. "Jasmine was trying to avoid some children and bumped me while I was talking to Chloe and I tripped forward. Please forgive us?"

Felina sniffed and looked into the large green eyes that seemed to make her melt. "I forgive you." She murmured, still staring into his eyes. Dimitri smiled and raised his hand to her mask. All three girls tensed up, but relaxed when Dimitri merely stroked Felina's cheek before kissing it.

"Come," he commanded, helping her to her feet. "You still have a beautiful dress to buy."

Felina grinned and hurried after Dimitri, completely forgetting about the other two girls.

"We did good." Chloe murmured.

"Yes," Jasmine agreed. "Yes we did." She smiled at Chloe and the pair followed after Felina.

* * *

**_Tada! it all works out. Plus, they can't just go to a country and NOT get any drama, which is why I put the whole falling kiss thing there._**


	20. Chapter 20

_**Thanks for waiting, here's the next chapter**_

* * *

_**Chapter twenty**_

Chloe smiled at the group of Mai that had escorted them back to the airport. As the group waved them goodbye, a shock of light brown hair and piercing blue eyes could be seen moving through the crowd.

"Dimitri!" Felina called happily, seeing him racing for the door to the airway. The door was closing and Felina began to panic. "Jump!" she shouted and Dimitri nodded, taking the advice, he slid through the door. Landing in a small heap on the other side, Dimitri smiled as Felina helped him to his feet.

"Come on, the others are already on the plane." Dimitri nodded and the two hurried to the plane, slipping in just before the door closed.

Walking to their seat, Felina asked, "Why are you here?"

"I told Nikolas and Orlando that I wanted to be with you and they gave me a ticket for the plane."

Felina's breath caught and she stopped, staring at Dimitri with wide eyes. "What?" he asked nervously. "Did I say something wrong?"

"Quite the contrary." Safire told him as she and Raton walked up. "You said exactly the right thing."

Dimitri fidgeted as Felina continued staring at him. "Lili, you're scaring him." Safire murmured.

Felina shook her head and looked around. "I, uh, I mean he…" She turned to Dimitri. "Did you mean it?" she asked softly.

"Well, of course." Dimitri said with a confused expression. "Why would I not?"

"It's just… no one's ever really told me that, especially once they saw my face."

"Well, what does your face look like?" Dimitri asked curiously. "Surely it is as beautiful as the eyes in it."

Felina shifted and turned, her eyes staring at the ground. "You wouldn't say that if you saw it." She mumbled. "Come on, we should probably get to our seats."

Dimitri nodded, not pushing the matter any further. He sat next to Felina and Chloe looked over at the two sadly. _Felina looks so happy._ She thought sadly. _I wonder if I can ever have that again._

Looking over at Jasmine, Chloe shook her head. "That would just be too weird; dating Alek's cousin."

Shaking her head, Chloe pushed the thought away as she finished putting away her baggage. "I'm glad that didn't take as much time." Chloe sighed as she checked to make sure it was secure.

"Yeah, we only stayed like three days." Paul grinned.

"Let's see if we can't do the same in Russia." Amy added.

Chloe laughed. "I don't think we'll be that lucky twice in a row, guys." She told them, taking her seat next to Jasmine.

Jasmine laughed, nodding her head. "We've never been that lucky. But since Russia is the second to last trip we need to make until we're back home, I think I'll enjoy it."

Chloe shrugged and laid back to go to sleep. Putting on the sleeping mask she'd purchased during their stay in Ukraine, She leaned back and drifted to sleep. Jasmine looked down at her and sighed, knowing she couldn't go to sleep in case she woke up with Chloe kissing her again. The scar had already grown to the top of her stomach and she didn't want to make it grow any further. Looking out the window as the plane took off, Jasmine sighed and thought about how her life would be if Chloe HAD picked her instead of Alek.

"It couldn't have been much different, could it?" she murmured. "Just without all this pain."

"Your life?"

Jasmine turned to see Felina hanging upside down in front of her. "What are you doing?" Jasmine hissed. "You could expose us!"

"I thought that was the reason we were making these trips." Felina said, her eyes shining brightly. "No matter, no one's awake except you and me anyway."

Jasmine looked around and, sure enough, everyone else on board was asleep.

"Now, as I said before: Your life?"

"Yeah, it couldn't have been much different except without the pain."

"Well, let's think," Felina dropped down until she was sitting in front of Jasmine. It was a tight fit considering there wasn't much space, but she made it work. "If she had chosen you, Alek would have merely been jealous, not killed. You would have been the one lying on her bed when she got home. It would have definitely been you getting your ass kicked by those Jackals. You would have been Zane's main target, since his target was to kill his brother so the Uniter would fall apart. I'm thinking it would have been plenty different, even without the pain."

"But Alek would have gotten the pain rather than me." Jasmine murmured. "And he's not as good about keeping his mouth shut."

"Alek wouldn't have gotten this pain." Felina said quietly.

"Why not?" Jasmine asked, looking at her.

Felina steeled herself for what she was going to say next. "There are many pieces to a puzzle, but only one piece is perfect for a certain place." With that, Felina climbed the wall and flipped back to her own seat.

Jasmine pondered over what she had said and looked at Chloe. "One piece is perfect for a certain place." She murmured, staring out the window once more. There was no way she was sleeping now.

* * *

"Wow, it's cold." Chloe said, shivering slightly. She felt someone put another jacket on her and looked to see Jasmine walking beside her.

"What about you?" Chloe asked.

"I have a windbreaker on," Jasmine told her. "I'll be fine."

Chloe raised an eyebrow and said, "We'll see." As the group walked through The city (the name of which none of them (not even Raton) could pronounce), Chloe watched for signs that Jasmine was getting colder, but if the tan girl was freezing, she didn't show any sign of it. Instead, Jasmine watched the city around them for any sign of Mai.

As they were about to board a bus to somewhere else in the city, five men with heavy-looking guns came toward them and said, "You three with the blonde hair, little tan girl, Russian boy and masked woman are all under arrest."

"What?" Meredith said. "Why?"

"Because Mai are put in jail in Russia. They are not welcome among our humans."

As the men cuffed the five Mai, Valentina stepped up. "May I have a word with your leader?" she asked one of them.

He looked down at her and nodded, turning to one of his comrades. "Isaac, take care of mine, I will escort the woman to Dominic."

The other man nodded as he lifted a struggling Chloe over his shoulder with Safire. As the humans were led away, Chloe and the others fought against the men holding them. Finally, Felina bit down into the shoulder of the man holding her. He screamed and dropped her to the ground; punching him in the jaw, Felina knocked him out and turned to the other men with twin knives in her hands. Expertly throwing the knives and nailing the men in the hearts, Felina freed her brother and Jasmine. Raton and Jasmine charged the man holding Chloe and Safire while Felina raced over to help a succeeding Dimitri. With all six Mai working together, the two men lay next to their comrades in a heap.

"We need to keep a low profile." Felina told the others. "They'll recognize us as Mai right away."

"But how?" Chloe asked in confusion.

"Mai have a trait that normal humans see, but don't know what it means." Jasmine told her.

"What?" Chloe and Safire asked.

"Have you checked your entire body in a mirror lately?" Jasmine asked.

"No." Chloe said. "I look in a mirror to do my hair and wash my face, but…"

"Turn around and look behind you."

Chloe and the others looked behind them and noticed a kind of shimmer around the base of their spine. "What's that?" Chloe asked.

"Our tail." Felina murmured. Everyone looked at her to find that she didn't have a shimmer.

"Where-?" Safire shook her head at Dimitri and he nodded, cutting off his sentence.

"We need to get back to Valentina and the others." Raton said.

"Let's go." Chloe agreed. Moving swiftly through the streets, the six friends kept to the shadows so that their shimmers weren't as noticeable. Chloe caught a scent in the air and cocked her head. It smelled familiar and after some investigating, Chloe found that it reminded her of her mom.

"Chloe's caught a scent." Felina said.

"So have I." Jasmine added.

"It's my mom." The two girls said together.

"Lead the way." Safire said.

Chloe looked to Jasmine and the other girl nodded; they took off in the direction of the scent and the others followed close behind. Stopping at a corner, the girls sniffed and looked in two different directions.

"I think they went that way…" Chloe began.

"…and then circled around and went that way." Jasmine finished.

Both girls took off and Safire looked to Felina. "They're getting more into the rhythm of it." She murmured to which Felina nodded.

"It shouldn't take too long before they realize it." Raton said.

"I don't know," Felina muttered, watching the way Chloe ran beside Jasmine. "Chloe is plenty stubborn."

Running around a few more bends and underneath a bridge, Chloe and Jasmine finally stopped in front of a large ornate building with a small tower beside it. "This is the place they came." Chloe sighed.

"How can we get in if they can see our tails?" Raton asked.

"You'll need a distraction." Safire said. Chloe and Jasmine turned to her to see that both she and Felina had knives and Japanese throwing stars in their hands.

"But what if you're captured?" Jasmine asked.

"We'll be fine." Felina reassured her. "I won't let anyone else separate me from mis hermanos." She looked to her siblings to see them sliding their masks on.

"I will stay to help the trio." Dimitri added.

Chloe and Jasmine nodded. The six of them entered the building and began making their way through. Men eyed them suspiciously and a few began standing.

"Stop!" One of the men called.

Dimitri, Felina, Raton and Safire immediately attacked, giving Jasmine and Chloe enough time to run for a door on the other side of the room. Slipping through it, they found themselves in a long hallway, but a door that was open on one side showed that there was an argument going on inside. Creeping toward the room, Chloe and Jasmine were delighted to find that it was the one needed. Slowly, they moved nearer, being cautious just in case there was an ambush.

* * *

**_Next chapter coming soon._**


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter twenty-one**

"I don't give a damn what your laws state, I want my daughter back!"

Chloe's eyes widened; she had never heard her mother speak like that. Peeking into the room, the girls saw Amy, Paul and Valentina standing against the wall while Meredith glared at a nervous-looking man sitting behind a desk. "But your daughter is a Mai. They cannot be seen as good creatures!"

"So what?" Meredith cried. "Chloe is MY daughter, not the daughter of Russian law and I want her back NOW!"

"Also," Valentina said, moving forward. "My husband was a good man. He didn't kiss me once during our relationship because he knew that something could go wrong with just one kiss."

"But you have a daughter-." The man said in confusion.

"Your point being?" Valentina demanded calmly. "Like I said, My husband knew the consequences and he wasn't going to risk it. Not one kiss no matter what."

The man stared at her and said, "But that does not mean that all Mai are good creatures!"

Chloe had had enough. "That's what I'm trying to straighten out." She told him, striding into the room. "I'm trying to get the humans and the Mai to coexist peacefully. How can I get that to happen if you lock us away?" She leveled the man with a glare and he fidgeted underneath her gaze. Chloe heard a small beep and wondered what that was.

A growling sounded from behind them and Jasmine rushed forward and pinned the man to the wall. "If your forces come here and touch **anyone** in this room, they will not survive and neither will you." The tan girl snarled at the suddenly terrified Order leader.

"B-b-b-b-but she could have b-b-been lying to me. How do I know she's the Uniter? All Whitley told me was that she was blonde and had pale skin."

Jasmine looked to her mother in surprise. "Whitley was here?" Valentina demanded softly.

"Yes, he-he said that Uniter was coming here to disrupt peace in Russia."

Chloe rubbed her forehead and groaned. "You know, that guy makes my job SO much harder when he does that." Sighing she turned to the Russian guy. "Look Mr. Order leader guy, we don't want to cause harm. We only cause harm when it's for self-defense. Granted, not all of the Mai did that, but we are working on making sure they do. Now, are you going to hear us out or do you want to die before your men get here?"

The Russian man quickly shook his head and Jasmine sat him down as four large men hurried into the room. "Stop!" they ordered, aiming their guns at Chloe's and Jasmine's chests.

"Call them off." Jasmine growled.

The Russian man looked from Jasmine to his men and waved his hand at them. As bullets went off, Jasmine pulled Chloe to the side and out of the line of fire. The man at the desk screamed in agony; he had forgotten one crucial detail. Jasmine had positioned both Chloe and herself so that they were right in front of him and when the men opened fire, the bullets hit the man behind the desk. The men with the guns lowered them uncertainly as they watched their leader die.

Jasmine stepped forward and asked, "Is there a second in command that we could talk to?"

The men nodded and led them to the room next door. A kinder looking man looked up as they entered through the door. "Hello?" he said uncertainly.

"Yeah, are you second in command here?" Chloe asked slowly.

"Yes I am." The man said. His English was a little better than the other man's and he seemed more willing to listen.

"Well, we're here on behalf of the other Mai and we wanted to know if you'd hear us out." The man folded his hands and gestured for her to go on. Everyone else in the room sighed in relief as Chloe began explaining what was going on.

When she finished, the man nodded. "Well, I see no reason for the Mai to be jailed after I hear the story from an actual Mai. But tell me, why did you not go to Dominic about this?"

"Because his men shot him dead." Jasmine replied.

"They did?" the man asked.

"Yeah, he gave them the order to shoot the two of us and we moved out of the way. We only attack if we're threatened."

"Not all Mai do that though." Chloe added. "We're trying to work so that it's all Mai, but it's been a really hard battle to fight. We were wondering if you could join the other major Mai countries and help us show the humans that we're not trying to overpopulate and rule them. We just want to live in peace with them." The man nodded and everyone began making their way through the hall. As they were reaching the door a scream of fear penetrated the air.

"It's a beast!" someone shouted.

"It's hideous!"

"It's going to devour us and slaughter our children."

"What do we do?"

"Stay away from it! It could be diseased."

"What if it has monstrous children like it?"

Chloe and Jasmine glanced at each other and ran through the door in time to see all of the men backing away from an unmasked Felina. "Felina?" Chloe called.

The blonde cat woman fell to her knees with her hands over her face, sobs racking her body. "Don't look at me!" she screamed.

Chloe and Jasmine hurried over as Raton and Safire did the same. Felina jerked away from them and snarled at Chloe.

"I told you!" she sobbed. "I told you the world would see me as nothing more than a monster; a hideous, ferocious, dangerous, repulsive MONSTER!" She bent her head and continued sobbing her eyes out as all of the men looked on in confusion.

"Isn't she going to eat us?" one of them asked.

Jasmine snarled at them all. "How dare you!" she growled quietly. "How could you make someone feel unwelcome just because they look different? She's as human as you and me, but with different qualities. So what? So what if she looks like an animal, we're all animals anyway. You even more so for wounding her in such a way."

"Yeah!" Chloe added, standing beside Jasmine with her arms crossed. "She's done nothing but help us through this entire thing, but you treat her as though she's a dog that's got rabies. Who's to say none of you have any diseases or some strange mark on you that you're not covering up? But none of us would say anything because it's not our business as to how you got it. But you'll stand there and insult someone that was trying to help everyone else." Chloe shook her head and turned back to the crying Felina.

"Es bueno, mi hermana." Raton was saying.

"No es bueno!" Felina shouted. "Yo soy una monstrua!"

Safire sighed and watched as Dimitri walked over. "Don't look at me Dimitri." Felina pleaded.

Dimitri hesitated, but then set his jaw and came forward to lay a hand on her shoulder. "Show me your face, Felina." Dimitri requested.

Felina shook her head. "You'll leave."

"We will not know for sure if you cannot trust me."

Felina froze for a second before slowly turning to face him, her eyes shining with tears as she watched for his reaction. Dimitri's eyes widened and he leaned closer, stroking the fur lined cheeks and running his fingers along the flattened, triangular nose.

"You are… magnificent." He breathed, his fingers reaching up to finger her ears slightly before he looked back down at her eyes.

Felina's eyes widened in utter shock; Dimitri nodded to her and more tears welled in her eyes. Felina sniffed and leaned forward to embrace him, crying into his shoulder.

"Thank you." She murmured, looking up at Chloe and Jasmine.

They nodded to her with twin smiles and Dimitri pulled back. "Do you feel better now?"

Felina nodded and made to stand. Dimitri pulled her back down and leaned in slowly, pressing a gentle kiss to her lips. Felina froze with wide eyes and the others looked at her worriedly.

"I'll take care of her." Raton sighed. "I think so many shocks in one day are too much for her."

Picking Felina up, Raton cradled her against his chest and held her while Chloe and the new Order leader spoke to the guards. "Wait," one guard said. "We are now supposed to let all of those people in those cells go because of the word of one of their kind? That seems a bit foolhardy, don't you think Anton?"

"This is their Uniter. She is here to help both species, not just her own. I will believe her word until the Mai do something to provoke us again."

Chloe breathed a sigh of relief. "Can we go to the prison and release all of the Mai into a closed space so that I can talk to them?" Chloe asked.

Anton nodded and gestured to two guards to escort them to the prison. They told the police what was going on and then all of the Mai were let out into the courtyard. Chloe looked at all of the unfamiliar faces staring up at her and gulped, feeling her knees go weak. Chloe heard footsteps behind her and turned to see Jasmine coming toward her. The tan girl laid a hand on her shoulder and Chloe took a deep breath before explaining to the Mai what was going on.

When she had finished, they all cheered and a few even rushed forward to kneel at her feet. Chloe blushed and moved away a bit, as Jasmine motioned to the Russian police. Grudgingly, they opened the gate and let all the Mai pass through before shutting it once more. Chloe thanked them and shook hands with Anton before the Order leader told some guards to escort her to the nearest hotel. The group was taken to a nice hotel and they rented four rooms each. Meredith and Valentina stayed in one, Amy and Paul shared another, Safire and Raton bunked together and Dimitri stayed in the last with Felina, Chloe and Jasmine. Chloe collapsed on the bed and began drifting off immediately. Jasmine looked over at the other bed skeptically.

"We'll be good, Jasmine." Felina told her, taking off her mask and her boots. "Besides, I should be the one telling you two to behave."

Jasmine blushed, but Felina intrigued her as the cat woman finally got her boots off. It was the first time Jasmine had ever seen her feet and the tan girl was slightly surprised to see the paws that protruded from the legs of the pants. Taking off her gloves, Felina flexed her claws and Jasmine saw that her hands resembled those of a cartoon animal.

Jasmine cocked her head. _I never imagined her body would be like a cat like her face. I always just thought her body was human. _Jasmine shook her head and climbed into bed beside Chloe. Soon she too fell asleep and Felina just smiled.

* * *

**_I'll have pictures for all my stories on my site soon, but I haven't gotten around to making the pictures yet. Review and tell me what you think so fa._**


	22. Chapter 22

_**Thanks for waiting, sorry it's taken so long guys, but here's the next chapter**_

* * *

**Chapter twenty-two**

Jasmine woke up in the middle of the night and felt something warm on her chest. Glancing down, she saw that Chloe had snuggled onto her chest during the night and she had wrapped an arm around the blonde protectively. _This feels nice._ Jasmine thought, slowly drifting back to sleep.

_This feels nice._ Chloe thought as she snuggled more into her pillow and felt it rise up to meet her. _Wait, rise up to meet me? And since when does my pillow involve it being folded in half? And it's so warm._ Lifting her head sleepily, Chloe saw that she had been lying on Jasmine. She was about to roll off the other girl when she felt Jasmine's arm wrapped protectively around her waist. _Do I really wanna keep running away from this feeling?_ The blonde asked herself. _But she's Alek's cousin and I loved Alek. I can't push those feelings on his cousin too._ Sighing softly, Chloe laid back down on Jasmine's chest and fell back to sleep.

Over in the next bed, two greenish yellow eyes peered through the dark at the two girls, watching as first one, then the other woke up and went back to sleep. _Yes,_ Felina thought. _Chloe is close to accepting it. She just needs a bit of a push. Perhaps when we get to Nigeria after we go back to San Francisco, I can help little Chloe with her little denial problem. _Closing her eyes, Felina snuggled back into Dimitri's broad chest and fell back into a peaceful sleep.

In the morning, the group bade goodbye to the Mai and the Order and headed out. Boarding the plane to Hong Kong, Paul was, as usual the first to go to sleep, followed by Amy and Meredith. Valentina stayed awake a few moments longer stroking Meredith's hair before she too fell into slumber. Raton and Safire put in their separate headphones and began reading while Felina curled into Dimitri's side and the two of them watched an airplane movie. Jasmine took out a book of her own and began practicing common phrases and such used in Hong Kong.

Chloe merely stared out the window for a time thinking about the night before. _Jasmine wouldn't have put me on her chest, but what about her arm? I may have cuddled into her chest, but she could have pushed me away. Instead, her arm was keeping me on top of her. She couldn't possibly still like me after all we've gone through. I mean, there was Tristan and Alek and Brian. Jasmine had Zane…_

Chloe stopped and glanced at Jasmine. The other girl was reading the book intently, studying so that she could be as much of a help to Chloe as possible. _Yeah, a help to me. She came along only to help me, right? Maybe I should ask, but how do you ask a question like that? You can't just walk up to someone and ask…_ "Hey Jasmine, do you like me?"

Jasmine turned in her airplane seat and raised an eyebrow. "You're my best friend, Chloe, of course I like you."

Chloe shook her head. "I mean do you like me as more than friends?" Jasmine's eyes narrowed and she slowly nodded.

"You didn't have to tell me if you didn't want to." Chloe said, shifting slightly under Jasmine's intense gaze.

"You asked me for an answer. Who am I not to give the correct information?"

"Felina didn't-."

"No, Felina never lied to us. We never asked her what her face looked like; we merely tried to unmask her. Why do you ask?"

"What?" Chloe asked, looking at her in confusion.

"Why did you ask if I liked you?" Chloe fidgeted again. "It's just… I remembered the kiss we shared back in San Francisco and I…"

Jasmine looked up at her slowly and cocked her head to the side. Chloe saw the faint gleam of hope in her eyes and knew that she couldn't hurt Jasmine any longer; she was just too stuck on Alek to start something with Jasmine. "I didn't want to lead you on. I'm sorry if I gave you that impression and I had no right."

Jasmine nodded and Chloe saw the hope fade. "It's alright Chloe. I mean, it must be nice to have a whole bunch of boys fawning over you everywhere you go."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Chloe asked defiantly.

"New York, the boys checked you out, Spain they actually asked you out, France, they looked at you like you were a tasty dessert, and Ukraine many of them couldn't stop staring. Not to mention the human Russians that walked past you multiple times just to watch you."

Chloe ducked her head and felt guilty. She hadn't known she had that effect on… anyone actually. She felt bad that she had walked on as if it were nothing when Jasmine was sad that that couldn't be her. "I'm sorry." Chloe murmured.

"No need to be. I have to focus on protecting you. I don't have time for love."

Chloe looked back up at Jasmine to find the other girl rummaging in the bag at her feet. Chloe looked back out the window. _No time for love._ She thought sadly.

* * *

"Hey Paul, feel at home?" Chloe called jokingly as they stepped off the plane into Hong Kong.

"Ha ha Chloe, very funny."

Chloe giggled as she looked around at all of the people that she could compare to Paul. As the group walked around, they noticed that some people began following them and Chloe began getting a bit uneasy. She knew from the shimmers that they were Mai, but she didn't know why they were following her friends and herself. Finally, the anxiety got the better of her and Chloe turned to them.

"May we help you?" she asked slowly, sizing them up.

The Mai looked at one another and bowed to her, making Chloe blush and look at the others. One of the Mai said something and Chloe looked around at the others for help. Paul stepped forward and replied to him. The Mai stood and began speaking with Paul. He nodded and turned to the others.

Looking right at Chloe, he said, "They want to escort you to their headquarters."

Chloe nodded and began following the Hong Kong Mai with the others following close behind. Leading the group through the streets of Hong Kong, the HK Mai stopped in front of a large ornate building. Chloe and company followed them inside and met with a man sitting behind a large desk. The man looked up at their arrival and took them all in. When his eyes landed on Chloe, he cried out in surprise and joy and rushed over to kneel at her feet. Chloe blushed deeper than before as the man took her hand and kissed it.

"We have been awaiting your arrival, my liege." He said, getting into a standing position.

"What do you mean?" Chloe asked.

"The prophecy!" the man shouted at one of the other Mai, who instantly produced a copy of the prophecy.

The man unrolled it and held it wide for Chloe to see. The blonde couldn't believe what she was seeing. An ancient-looking picture of herself was drawn sitting in a throne with other Mai bowing at her feet. As Chloe's eyes traveled down, she saw the different traits she had inherited and she even saw her and Jasmine meeting Felina. But at the end of the scroll-type paper, it featured a drawing of Chloe in a wedding gown and she was smiling at someone next to her. But there was a dark smudge where the person should have been. "What was under the smudge?" Chloe asked.

"No one knows." He replied. "It has been there for generations. But it is your true mate."

Chloe nodded. "So how are the human-Mai relations in this part?" she asked smoothly.

"Very well, your Majesty. We kept out the Order from Hong Kong to please you and-."

"Wait," Meredith held up a hand. "What did you just call her?"

"She is the Ruler of Mai, the Chosen One, the Great Survivor, she is the Queen of Mai." Turning to Chloe, he and the other Mai turned to a shocked Chloe.

"We are ready to serve you, Your Highness."

* * *

**_Next chapter coming soon._**


	23. Chapter 23

**_Yay, got it uploaded faster this time. Enjoy the chapter. It's a bit short in my view, but it couldn't be helped._**

* * *

**_Chapter twenty-three_**

Chloe blinked in utter shock. She stood in a trance as the others looked at her curiously. "I-I'm the qu-queen?" she asked hoarsely. "Of ALL Mai?" The Hong Kong Mai leader nodded eagerly as Chloe blinked at him.

"But… but there has to be some mistake…" The blonde turned to Valentina.

"The Hong Kong Mai know the most about the prophecy, Chloe. If they foresee you as being queen of all Mai, then… you're queen."

Chloe felt her knees go weak. Jasmine leaned against her for support and Chloe looked up at her with pleading eyes. "Calm down Chloe," Jasmine murmured, stroking her hair.

Chloe slowly calmed down and looked to the Mai pride leader. "What…? I mean, how did you come across this?"

He nodded and dismissed the other Mai. "Our ancestors were studying your background to get a closer look into what lay ahead. They were very happy to see that you would rule over the Mai, Humans and Jackals with a wonderful hand."

"Wait, Jackals?" Chloe stopped and turned her head slowly to face him. "But, they hate Mai."

"No, in the near future, the Jackals will need to call upon the Mai for help and you will help them. You are the destined ruler of three species, Queen Chloe." Chloe felt dizzy as this new information crashed into her head. She staggered for a second before two hands caught her effortlessly.

"Perhaps we should lie down for a bit." Chloe heard Jasmine say as the tan girl helped her to her feet. "Her Majesty is very tired from our long trip and would like to rest in order to digest this new information."

"Of course, of course." The Mai leader told them, bowing slightly as he led them down a narrow hallway. "These are our finest rooms. Please, make yourselves at home and dinner will be ready in little over an hour."

"Th-thank you." Chloe stuttered out as she and the others picked rooms. Felina and Dimitri chose one to themselves while Amy and Paul, Meredith and Valentina and Raton and Safire did the same. Jasmine took Chloe into the last remaining room and helped her sit on the bed. "I can NOT believe this is happening." Chloe groaned putting her head in her hands.

Jasmine leaned against the wall and watched her carefully. Chloe looked up at her and Jasmine saw the tears threatening to flood her eyes. "I can't be the queen of three different species!" she murmured. "I can't even control my HAIR most of the time." Jasmine walked over and drew Chloe into a hug, letting the other girl cry into her shoulder.

"It's ok, Chloe." The tan girl cooed, stroking the blonde curls. "You have Amy and Paul and Meredith to help you, as well as Felina, Raton, Safire, Dimitri, my mom and me. We're all here for you to help. You won't have to do this alone." Chloe's sobs died until they were soft hiccups and she pulled away, wiping her eyes.

"S-sorry." Chloe said with a sheepish smile. "I guess I got a little emotional there."

Jasmine gave her a soft smile and, on impulse, kissed her forehead. "Don't worry, Chloe. It's a lot to take in in just one day. Get some sleep and you might feel better later."

Chloe nodded and Jasmine laid down next to her, slowly stroking her hair. Chloe fell to sleep within minutes and Jasmine was close behind.

* * *

Later that evening, Chloe and Jasmine met up with the others outside their rooms and all headed down to dinner. The many Mai in the kitchen stopped and turned curiously as the dectet entered. All of them gasped and instantly bowed to Chloe, who blushed bright red and nodded to them. Jasmine sat on one side of the blonde and Felina sat on the other as the others sat around them. The food was brought to them and they all ate the meal gratefully. Chloe picked at her food, frowning at it as she stabbed a piece of meat.

"What's the matter?" Jasmine asked quietly.

"I… it's nothing, really." Jasmine cocked her head, but nodded and said nothing.

"Young Majesty?"

Chloe looked round and saw the leader of the Hong Kng Pride standing behind her next to a man with a short brown beard. "This is the leader of the Order. He helps maintain the people so that they know you are their ruler." Chloe nodded and held out her hand.

"Sheng-Hei." He said with a wide smile. "Nice to meet you, Majesty."

Chloe smiled back at him. "Pleasure's mine." She told him. "Since the Mai and Human relations here seem to be in good shape, we are to leave tomorrow."

"We will send some Mai with you just in case. And we will send the information out to the other Mai prides so they know that you are to be crowned queen in a two months."

Chloe's eyes widened and her breathing sped up. "Two months?" she asked in a shrill voice.

Everything was getting fuzzy as both leaders nodded happily. With one last breath, Chloe fainted.

* * *

**_Thanks for being patient. Hope you liked the fluffiness of the chapter. Review and tell me what you think. *Bats eyelashes cutely* please?_**


	24. Chapter 24

**_Hooray, I got another chapter up. Sorry about the wait, I'm trying to fit in more Jasmine/Chloe fluffiness. I plan on trying to make Chloe realize her love (and ADMIT it) before the end of the story, but it's getting hard to figure out how. *Shrug* enjoy the chapter guys. Tell me whatcha think._**

* * *

**Chapter twenty-four**

Jasmine jumped forward and caught the Uniter before she touched the ground and Felina helped set her down gently. While Jasmine worked at reviving Chloe, Felina turned to the two leaders. "She's still getting used to the idea of becoming queen. Just give her some time."

They nodded with matching smiles and turned to go discuss who would accompany Chloe on the trip. "They had better be paying for themselves." Raton grumbled as he continued eating his vegetable noodles.

"Raton!" Safire gasped.

"What?" he asked. "Lili has got enough problems without paying for some more people."

Felina looked down as though embarrassed. "Ratty, It's fine, really."

Raton's fierce blue eyes narrowed before he sighed. "If you insist, Felina, but if it becomes a bother…"

Felina smiled at him and resumed eating. Later in the day, Jasmine and Chloe were walking around the large headquarter together, just strolling along. Chloe was quieter than normal and Jasmine was worried about her.

"Chloe?" Chloe shrugged at her as she continued walking. "Please, Chloe."

Chloe stopped and turned to her with blank eyes. "It's going to be ok, you know that… right?"

Chloe took a deep breath before answering. "It's just… I don't know if I want to rule three different species. I mean, the humans could try to overthrow me and then start a civil war with the Mai. Or the Jackals could get fed up and try to kill me and start a different civil war with the Mai giving the humans ample time to come after me. I just don't know. Plus, there are a lot of regions in the world. That's a lot of places to be. I can't rule over something so big. And what about the other species? What if they try to come after me for power?"

By the time she finished, Chloe was shaking and Jasmine moved forward to envelope Chloe in a hug. "Chloe, calm down. Sh, calm down."

Chloe nodded into Jasmine's chest and took deep breaths. "You don't have to do it by yourself. Felina and I could take different regions and Amy and Paul could take other ones. My mother and Meredith could go to another and Raton, Safire and Dimitri could take other regions. It's going to be hard; I won't lie to you about that, but you HAVE to be strong or the empire will fall apart before it is even built. Besides, the leaders of the present Mai prides can be the kind of ambassadors or something so you don't have to rule all the time."

Chloe looked up at Jasmine in shock at how much she'd thought about this. Jasmine nodded and Chloe took another deep breath.

"Thanks Jazzy." She smiled. Jasmine smiled in return and they went to their room to get some sleep.

* * *

The next day, Felina spoke with the Hong Kong leader and found that the two Mai accompanying them would be paying themselves. She nodded in thanks and everyone boarded the plane back home. Chloe relaxed back into her seat next to Jasmine and found that Felina and Safire had taken up residence behind them with Raton and Dimitri in front of them. Then Valentina and Meredith settled on their left with the plane's wall on their right.

"It's like my own Royal Guard." Chloe chuckled Jasmine grinned at the thought and settled back to get some more sleep. Chloe watched her for a moment, tracing the tan features with her eyes. Noticing that a small scar had been left from the poison attack in France, but that it was almost invisible.

Sighing, Chloe settled back and watched and airplane movie. Searching through the list, she came out with Dear John and sat back to watch. The movie made Chloe tilt her head a bit to the side at seeing two people expressing their love through letters. _It's kind of cute actually._ The blonde thought. Sighing (she seemed to be doing that a lot lately), she continued watching the movie until the plane landed in San Francisco. Gathering bags into her arms, Chloe exited the plane with her friends and family.

Sniffing she gave a sigh of satisfaction. "It's nice to smell that San Fran air again." she murmured, to which everyone chuckled.

Paul called two taxis for everyone and they got in much the same way as last time, with Meredith on Valentina's lap, Amy on Paul's and Chloe on Jasmine's with Felina in the front seat. Then, Raton, Safire, Dimitri and the two Hong Kong Mai packed together in the other taxi. Chloe snuggled into Jasmine's chest, relaxing against the other girl for a moment before remembering that she didn't want to lead Jasmine on and sitting up. For the rest of the ride to the entrance of the tunnels, Chloe tried not to make any impression that she was falling for Jasmine, but it was really hard not to do so. The faint hint of Jasmine's shampoo and perfume were getting to her and it was all Chloe could do not to stick her nose into Jasmine's hair and inhale deeply.

At last, they arrived at the entrance and waited for the taxis to leave before heading down. Since there were numerous rooms, everyone decided to have their own rooms this time. Chloe relaxed onto her bed as she tossed her shoes into a corner and her jacket into another. Sighing, she laid down and looked up at the concrete ceiling above her.

It was already nighttime, so why couldn't she get to sleep already? Sighing, Chloe know the reason, but didn't want to act on it. Instead, she decided to do some walking, moving about the tunnels easily. As she walked, Chloe sighed and thought about whether she should be getting over Alek and embracing her love for Jasmine.

"But what if I can't love her the way she loves me?" the blonde wondered. "I could never hurt her that way."

Sighing again (she really needed to stop), Chloe turned to go back to her room. Suddenly, she heard a loud moan not too far away. Eyes widening, Chloe realized that it sounded like her mom. _Mom's hurt!_ The blonde Mai gasped as she took off down the tunnelway.

* * *

**_A little short in my opinion, but hey, they made it back home to San Fran. You're gonna get a kick outta the next chapter. Lemme just finish editing it and it'll be up._**


	25. Chapter 25

**Thank all of you for being so patient. Special thanks to mbj2323, Nightfire87 and kmt513 for the killer awesome reviews you guys are sending. They make me very happy. So, here's to all of you still reading. Enjoy the chapter!**

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**Chapter twenty-five**

Feet pumping against the cool concrete ground of the tunnels, Chloe raced in the direction she'd heard her mother's moan. Skidding around a corner, Chloe stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Valentina pressing Meredith against the cold wall of a crevice. Hissing, Chloe jumped at them and pushed Valentina backwards.

"What were you doing?" Chloe demanded.

"Chloe, I wasn't doing… anything." Valentina replied.

"You had my mom pressed against the wall. You were hurting her!" Chloe growled.

"Chloe, I was doing no such thing." Valentina told the blonde slowly.

Chloe then turned to her mother and saw the blush creeping up her neck. Realization dawned on the Uniter and Chloe's cheeks flamed. "Oh." She murmured, beginning to back away. "Um, ok then. I'll just… leave you two… alone."

Chloe turned and hurried away, trying to stop the blush from creeping further up her cheeks. Shaking her head, Chloe tried not to think about what she'd just interrupted. "I SO cannot believe this." She muttered. "Jasmine and Felina are going to have a field day." Turning another corner, Chloe found Amy and Paul walking around, looking confused.

"What's up?" she asked, making them jump.

"Well, we were out of our rooms walking around and we have NO idea where we are." Amy sighed. "Why do tunnels have to be so confusing?"

"So that no one unwanted can find us easily." A voice said from the shadows. Chloe turned to see Felina and Dimitri strolling toward them.

"It's a good technique." Another voice said from the opposite direction, revealing Safire and Raton. Meredith and Valentina came from another corner with Jasmine rounding the last.

"What? Is this the only night everyone decided to stay up when I actually wanted to have a walk?" Chloe joked.

"I guess no one could sleep." Amy pointed out.

"Amy and I just wanted to cuddle." Paul added.

"Dimitri and I were on our way up to watch the stars." Felina told them.

"Raton and I got edgy being underground and were looking for some fresh air." Safire intoned.

"I just wanted to stretch my legs and think." Jasmine murmured.

"We just-."

Chloe held up a hand. "Don't make me go through that again, mom." Chloe laughed. Meredith looked down with a blush as Valentina watched her with a twinkle in her eye.

"Well, we all need sleep." Felina mused. "And since none of us obviously want to sleep alone, why don't we all sleep together in the same room? My sitting room is large enough and there are a lot of beanbags and such for us to curl up on."

Everyone nodded in agreement and followed Felina down the hallway, arriving in a spacious ornate room filled with soft fluffy objects. "I like things that are as soft as my fur." She said happily.

Paul and Amy curled up together on one of the futons, Valentina and Meredith cuddled on a large beanbag, Raton and Safire laid on two mats side-by-side, Felina and Dimitri curled on a plush loveseat and Jasmine chose a futon as well and Chloe snagged a beanbag. As everyone drifted off to sleep, Chloe rolled over and over on her beanbag and couldn't seem to get comfortable at all. Sitting up, Chloe wrapped her arms around her knees and gave a small sigh.

"Chloe?" the blonde jumped and glanced over at a stirring Jasmine. "You ok?"

Chloe looked at Jasmine and took a breath. _Screw it, Alek is dead and I HAVE to move on._ "Jasmine, can I sleep up there with you?" Jasmine nodded and opened her arms.

Chloe all but threw herself into them, snuggling into the comforting warmth. Within a matter of minutes, Chloe was drifting to sleep and she smiled. _I can try to be open to it._ She thought to herself. _For now, I need to sleep_

* * *

**_There you go guys. Hope you liked it. I'm working on twenty-six now. The group is going to be heading to Nigeria. I wonder how this will turn out. Keep reading, I'm grateful for the support and leave me a review. n.n ^_^_**


	26. Chapter 26

**Thanks for waiting. i now have three chapters ready to post. Here's the first. Enjoy.**

* * *

**_Chapter twenty-six_**

Within two days, the group was off once more, this time to the southern hemisphere to Nigeria. Chloe yawned as they boarded the plane. Putting their things overhead, almost everyone fell asleep as soon as they sat down, but Jasmine, Chloe and Felina stayed awake for a bit longer. Felina looked out the window for a bit, daydreaming about the beautiful lands of Nigeria that she'd read about while she had been cooped up in the Order's personal room for her. Jasmine stared out the window wondering if the Mai in Nigeria would accept their offer of peace and trust that Chloe was their new Queen.

Chloe was lost in thought as millions of questions raced through her mind. _What if they don't accept me as their queen? What if we can't get them united with the Order? Does Jasmine really feel the same way? How does she play it off so well? Will we be able to unite all of the Prides? What's going to happen to the Jackals that will make them want to come under my rule? My rule? When did I start thinking like a queen? _These questions continued running around Chloe's mind as she shot frequent glances over at Jasmine. _Maybe I can tell her after the trip. _Chloe thought resolutely_. Then I won't have as much stress on my back._

Nodding to herself, Chloe relaxed back into the seat and awaited the land in Kano. The plane ride was fairly uneventful as all three girls dozed off. When Chloe awoke, the plane was landing onto a grassy, but worn path. She began waking the others and everyone gathered their bags together. As they were leaving, warriors, Mai and human alike, suddenly surrounded them.

"You are other Mai." One of the warriors said in a deep voice. "What business have you here?"

\Valentina slowly stepped up. "We have brought the Uniter."

The men all looked taken aback. "The queen?" they gasped, hurriedly kneeling. "We are sorry, your Majesty. We had no idea it was you."

Chloe blushed and thought, _Well, at least they accept that I'm they're queen._

"It's alright." She said, motioning for them to stand. "Can you take us to your Pride leader?"

"Yes, of course."

Chloe took a small breath before following them with Felina, Jasmine and the others close behind. The men led her through the tall grasses of the Sub-Saharan and into a cluster of huts. The men began shouting and women and children came out of their huts to watch the twelve newcomers walk through the village. Chloe's blush deepened and she moved closer to Jasmine. The tan girl put an arm around her and continued walking. At last, they arrived at a hut that was a bit bigger than the others and out came the leader of the tribe.

"You have brought outside humans and Mai." He said to the leaders.

"This is the Uniter and her comrades." The first warrior responded with a slight bow.

"Oh?" the leader said with a raised eyebrow. "Well then, let him step forth."

Chloe shifted uncomfortably and the warrior coughed to cover a slight laugh. "Ugdablo, the Uniter is a woman."

The leader kept his eyebrow raised as Chloe attempted to step up. Her knees slowly began shaking and Jasmine put a hand to her back to steady her as they both stepped forward.

"This is the Uniter?" the man said, looking Chloe up and down. "You do not seem like much. How do you fight?"

"F-fight?" Chloe stammered. "Well, I don't know actually."

The man shook his head. "And what have you done so far?" he pressed.

"I've United New York, Spain, France, Ukraine, Russia and Hong Kong."

The Ugdablo's shot up. "For one so young, you are very experienced. How did you Unite these countries with their humans?"

"Um, in New York, we simply made a peace treaty with the Order. In Spain, we had to use force so that everyone would calm down and negotiate. In France, we helped the Order get the upper hand with the Mai since the Mai were overpopulating the area. Ah, in Ukraine, there wasn't anything to be done, but in Russia, we were made to use force again. And in Hong Kong, the Mai informed me that I was to become… queen."

Ugdablo nodded. "You have been informed correctly then. I admire your variety of techniques, but I would very much like to see you fight. Would you show us a demonstration?"

Chloe looked up at Jasmine and nodded. The man gestured to a ropy human warrior not too far away and the crowd of people made a circle around the two. Jasmine gave Chloe's shoulder a squeeze and backed away. Chloe took off her heels and faced her opponent. Moving down into a defensive crouch, Chloe let the Nigerian warrior make the first move. The warrior charged her way and Chloe crouched as low as possible, coiling her body before springing at the warrior and slamming into his chest. He toppled backwards, caught off guard and Chloe delivered a few punches to his stomach before he raised his feet and kicked her off. Landing on her feet, Chloe's face split into a feral smile as she and the warrior charged. Just before they crashed into each other, Chloe leaped into the air and landed on the warrior's back, causing him to lose balance and fall flat on his face. He lay there panting as Chloe stood.

The people around clapped for her and Ugdablo gestured to a muscular Mai warrior. The man took his place across from a slightly panting Chloe and the two lowered into their fighting crouches. This time, Chloe took the first initiative and ran gracefully at the man. Watching the man's actions closely, Chloe ducked just as his arm snapped out to punch her and slid between his legs. Spinning, she kicked him in the back and made him stumble forward. The Mai turned and snarled lowly before running at Chloe quickly. Chloe dodged to the side and avoided the coming blow, but was a little too slow to avoid the foot that caught her side. She rolled to the side for a moment before standing and facing the man, coming out of her crouch. The man looked at her in confusion and stood as well; using his momentary bemusement, Chloe lunged and landed a blow on the man's chin, forcing him backwards while raining more punches to his chest and stomach. At last, the man fell to his knees and surrendered.

Chloe took a deep breath to focus her breathing before turning back to Ugdablo. He nodded and stepped forward. Chloe raised an eyebrow apprehensively and slowly shifted into her hunting crouch. The old man moved forward quickly and Chloe braced herself for an attack. The man stopped right in front of her and held an arm ready to punch. Chloe ducked just before the man snapped that fist forward. She continued dodging his attacks until she saw an open chance and jabbed the underside of one of his arms. The arm went limp and Chloe stared in fascination.

"Wow, it actually worked." She murmured as she ducked blows from his other arm.

Jumping over a kick, Chloe sent another jab at Ugdablo shoulder and rendered his other arm useless for a few moments. Ugdablo stared in shock as Chloe took a breath. She had only seen this on TV, but decided to give it a try. Focusing herself on her very core, Chloe put a finger to the man's forehead and stood very still for a moment before pushing back gently. To everyone's astonishment, the man crumpled to the ground.

Everything was silent for a moment before all of the warriors stormed forward. "You have killed our leader!" they roared, advancing on Chloe. Felina and Jasmine jumped in front of Chloe and growled threateningly.

"Back off!" Jasmine snarled as Felina pulled knives form her boots, ready to use at a moment's notice. The warriors pressed forward and raised their machete's to strike down the two Mai in front of them and possibly the third Mai next to their leader. As the first machete fell, Felina raised her knives to meet it and Jasmine jumped into action, punching and kicking left and right, both girls hindering the warriors' advances on Chloe. One warrior tried to sneak around the fight to get to Chloe, but a nicely thrown and perfectly aimed knife from Felina caught the hand holding his machete and he screamed in pain as he dropped the overgrown knife. Chloe knelt next to the downed man and patted his cheek slightly, coaxing him out of his temporary incapacitation.

The leader opened his eyes and smiled up at her, groaning as he slowly got to his feet. "Very impressive indeed." Ugdablo muttered, looking around at the fighting warriors.

"My warriors!" He called. "Make peace this instant!" No one paid him any mind as Jasmine continued taking down three warriors at a time.

"Stop this madness!" He cried again.

When, once again, no one paid him any mind, Chloe put two fingers to her mouth and whistled. Everyone stopped and looked over at her. The warriors gasped and knelt to the ground before them both.

"You have recovered him so quickly." They mused.

"Nah, just a bit of patting and he was fine. It wasn't meant to be permanent; just to knock him out."

The warriors stared at her in amazement and turned to their leader. "My warriors, I am resigning my post to the true ruler of the tribes and human race. Bow before your new queen, Chloe King."

All of the Nigerians around bowed to Chloe and made the blonde blush self-consciously. Jasmine laughed and bowed to her as well, causing the others to do the same, making Chloe blush even harder. Nodding to those around, Chloe gestured for them to get to their feet and turned to the leader. "I know absolutely nothing about being a queen. Could you give me some lessons?"

Ugdablo nodded and said, "It would be my pleasure your highness, but I think it would be best for you to continue your missions first. I am sure that you are missing two very important Prides to unite with their humans."

Chloe nodded and bowed her head respectfully. "Thank you."

Two warriors stepped up and said, "We think it would be best if we were to accompany her highness on to the most deadly of Prides. Brazilians do not take kindly to other Mai trespassing on their soil." Raton groaned, but Safire jabbed him in the ribs to make him hush.

"We have money to pay for it, but we just wished for our queen to be protected." The warrior went on.

Chloe nodded and asked, "Do you have an extra hut, my family and I can sleep in for a few days before heading out?"

The leader nodded and gestured to the huts behind his own. "My wives and I will sleep in my hut for the night and you can sleep in theirs."

Chloe smiled gratefully. "Thank you so much. I'm just really tired right now."

Ugdablo chuckled. "Completely understandable, Your Majesty. Make yourself at home."

Chloe and the others went back and found six huts waiting for them. Splitting into pairs, they coupled into the huts and took looks around. Chloe found a bed with furs and slowly laid down on it, sighing in relief at being able to rest. Jasmine chuckled and climbed in beside her.

"So, how does it feel to be the queen of two countries already?" The tan girl laughed at the groan she received. "Come on, Chloe. I know there are tons of countries in the world, but you have to admit, this is definitely going to be fun. There shouldn't be any wars with you as queen because we'll all be one big country and the scientists say that we're all going to mold back into one continent again."

"Somehow, the thought of Pangaea coming back to life does not make me feel better about this situation." Chloe muttered.

"Ah, funny you should mention Pangaea…" Both girls turned to see Valentina and Meredith standing in the doorway.

"Mom! We could have been making out or something!" Jasmine and Chloe shouted simultaneously before glancing at each other with raised eyebrows.

Meredith and Valentina both snorted and said, "Not likely."

Valentina cleared her throat. "But, it is said in the myths and legends that once all of the tribes have fully accepted that you are their queen, regardless of the humans know it or not, the entire planet is going to mold back into one continent so that you don't have to do a lot of work. But the Prides must all have good human relations and be interconnected like they've never been before."

Chloe nodded and sighed. "It's just all coming so fast, it's a lot to take in in just over maybe a month?" she looked to Jasmine and the other girl quickly did the math, deducing that it had been roughly between a month and a month and a half since they first set out. "It's just so much and I'm just one person."

Meredith strode over to sit next to her daughter on the overcrowded bed and Valentina leaned against it next to Jasmine. "Chloe, I know it's a lot for you and it would be a lot for any one person. But you have me and Jasmine and Felina and Valentina and all the others. We'll figure out a way to do this together so that the pressure isn't completely on you. Can you stick through it until then?"

Chloe took a breath and slowly nodded. "Yeah Mom," she smiled. "I think I can hold out until then."

Meredith grinned down at her and kissed her forehead. "Good. Now get some sleep so we can talk about Pride relations tomorrow."

Chloe raised an eyebrow and narrowed her eyes, smiling felinely at her mother. "Love you Mom." The blonde murmured.

"Implied." Meredith replied, getting up and moving over to Valentina.

The tan woman put an arm around her shoulder and kissed her nose. "You need to get sleep too if you're going to be accompanying your daughter."

Meredith giggled. "And who says Jasmine won't be with Chloe? Your daughter could be there too."

Valentina chuckled. "Then let's both sleep."

Meredith nodded and they waved goodbye to their daughters before heading back tot heir own hut. Chloe and Jasmine stared after them before looking at each other. Shaking their heads simultaneously, the girls simply climbed under the furry covers and drifted to sleep, Chloe snuggling into Jasmine halfway through the night.

* * *

**There you go. Gimmie a few minutes to upload the other two for you. Review and tell meh what ya think.**


	27. Chapter 27

**_Here's ch 27. Ch-ch-check it out._**

* * *

**_Chapter twenty-seven_**

Chloe awoke the next morning and stretched out with a yawn. Slowly getting out of the nice warm bed, Chloe looks around and finds a strange woman standing near a fire. Feeling a small sense of fear, Chloe stared at the woman for a moment.

"Please your highness, I mean no harm." The woman said slowly, bowing to the blonde. "I merely wished to heat the hut since it was quite chilly last night with the rains pouring in."

"Rain?" Chloe asked. "I didn't hear any rain."

"It came sometime after midnight, Majesty."

"Oh." Chloe murmured. "Well, thank you for watching over me and my friend. So you know where she went?" "

I believe she said she was going to go check on her mother."

Chloe grinned. "Thanks."

With that, she walked out into the weak sunlight and looked around for Jasmine. Feeling a kind of pull toward the hut near the middle, Chloe strode over and peeked inside. Smiling, she moved into the hut and asked, "Breakfast in bed?" Meredith and Valentina were both sleepily looking over to where Jasmine was roasting eggs over a fire.

"No, they just decided to get some more rest while I cooked." Jasmine chuckled, flipping more eggs onto a plate.

Chloe nodded with a smile and sat near the fire to watch Jasmine cook. Her eyes followed the way the other girl moved fluidly when flipping and cracking the eggs, giving the air of barely straining herself at all. Chloe watched the tanned hands as they moved making the eggs quickly and gracefully.

"Chloe, are you hungry? You're drooling."

Chloe's eyes widened as she wiped her mouth. "Ew, how embarrassing." She muttered. "The eggs just look really good."

Jasmine snickered and flipped one onto a plate and handed it to Chloe. The blonde gave her a grateful look and dug into the hot egg eagerly. Jasmine carried two plates over to their mothers and took one for herself.

Sitting across from Chloe, Jasmine asked, "So, are you going to ask Ugdablo if he's going to let us send warriors to the other Prides so that inter-relations between the Prides can begin? Hong Kong already said they were."

Chloe tapped her chin and pulled out her cell phone. Dialing a number, she held it to her ear and waited. After a moment, a voice answered. "Hello, Josef? Yes, it's Chloe. I was wondering if you could send some of your Mai to the other Prides so that they can all be interconnected with New York? Uhuh, uhuh, alright. Thank you."

Chloe looked up at Jasmine. "One down, five to go."

Jasmine smiled encouragingly and cocked her head as Chloe dialed the next number. Waiting a moment, Chloe smiled. "Hello? Can I speak to Alfred? Tell him it's Chloe."

There was silence for a moment. "Hey Alfred, it's Chloe. Do you mind sending some of your Mai to the other tribes so that the inter-connection of the tribes can start? Really? Oh. I'm sorry. Well, that's fine too."

Just then, Chloe paled and swallowed thickly. "Um, Tristan? Tristan… he was killed in a fight in France. One of the Mai tore his head off. Yeah, I'm sorry too. Thanks Alfred." Chloe hung up and looked down for a moment, taking a deep breath.

"Some of the Mai died of a small sickness, but the others are healthy."

Jasmine put a hand on her shoulder supportively and Chloe nodded. Chloe once again, dialed the phone and a harsh French-accented voice sounded loud and clear. "'ello?"

Chloe gave a small smile. "Hello, Jacque, it's Chloe."

"What do you want?"

Chloe cringed at his less-than-friendly tone and Jasmine took the phone. "Hey Jacque, we were wondering if you could send some of your Mai to the other Tribes since their Mai will be coming to France soon."

"What?" Jacque exclaimed angrily. "They are sending their Mai to Paris? Why?"

"So that the Mai can be connected again like they were a long time ago." Chloe explained.

There was a huff on the other end before Jacque said, "Alright. I will send my Mai to other Prides."

"Thanks Jacque." The girls chorused before hanging up. Chloe laughed. "Well, that was pleasant." Jasmine chuckled and stayed close as Chloe dialed Orlando.

"Hey Nikolas. Is Orlando nearby?" A moment of pause. "Hi Orlando. Could you and Nikolas send some of your Mai to the different Mai Prides in New York, Spain, France, Russia, Hong Kong, and Nigeria? It would be really helpful. Thanks Orlando. Talk to you soon."

Chloe hung up with a mildly puzzled look on her face, but shook her head when Jasmine raised a quizzical eyebrow. Dialing one last number, she called Anton, who had been proclaimed as leader of the Mai despite being human. "Hello?" the voice through the phone asked curiously.

"Hey Anton, it's Chloe and Jasmine, you got a minute?"

"Of course, Chloe. What do you need?"

"I was just wondering if you could send your Mai to the other Mai Prides so that the peace between them can be settled. Do you think you can do that?"

"Absolutely, Chloe. I will get right on that."

"Thank you Anton." Chloe beamed at her mother and best friend.

"That's everyone except this tribe settled. Ready?" Meredith and Valentina groaned as Jasmine nodded.

"You two can keep sleep if you want." Chloe said with raised eyebrows and a smirk.

"Keep it PG-13." Jasmine added with a smirk of her own.

The two girls laughed as they exited the hut and headed for the main hut to find Ugdablo. Knocking on the hut, the girls watched as the people of the tribe came over to the hut behind them. Listening intently, Jasmine and Chloe heard someone—or rather, multiple someones—crying inside. Moving aside the flap, Jasmine let Chloe go first and Chloe gasped at what she saw. All six of Ugdablo's wives and his two newest children were all gathered around his motionless body, sobbing.

"What happened?" Chloe asked softly.

The first wife, Aniche, stepped forward and gave Chloe a sad stare. "Last night, when Ugdablo and I were the only ones left awake, he called me to him. He told me that it was finally time for him to leave us. He told me that he was only holding the position so that the true ruler could find our tribe and the rest of Nigeria. Now that you were here, he said that his time had come and he bade me goodbye."

Chloe's eyes widened and she looked from the motionless body of Ugdablo to the saddened Aniche and back again, feeling a heavy feeling of both guilt and desperation fill her stomach.

"He… he died… because of me?" she asked in a strangled choke. "Because I came… he died?"

Aniche nodded and Chloe began hyperventilating. Feeling warm arms wrap around her waist, Chloe turned and her eyes found Jasmine's. Chloe's breathing didn't slow down as she gazed into the calming brown eyes opposite hers. "I killed him." She croaked as she fainted again.

* * *

**Tada! There's two for you. Review this one too! Three will be on its way.**


	28. Chapter 28

**_Last chapter, as promised. Check it out, read and review for me. Enjoy. Last update for now, but read it anyway. I think you might like it._**

* * *

**_Chapter twenty-eight_**

Jasmine held Chloe up before slowly laying her down on the earthen floor.

"Chloe?" she said softly, patting Chloe's cheek. "Chloe, come on, wake up."

Chloe stirred and mumbled something unintelligible before succumbing back into unconsciousness. Jasmine's eyes clouded with worry and she looked up at Aniche for help. The older woman nodded and went to fetch a pot of cold water. Quickly returning, Aniche dipped her hand into the water and patted it onto Chloe's face.

The blonde stirred once more and opened her eyes. "J-Jasmine?" she asked to which Jasmine smiled. "Hey Chloe, how are you feeling?"

"Scared." Chloe replied, slowly sitting up.

"There's nothing to be worried about, Chloe." Aniche soothed, rubbing Chloe's back. "You are the new leader of all of Nigeria and probably Sub-Saharan Africa. What is it that you needed?"

"I was coming to ask Ugdablo if he could send some of his warriors out to the other Prides so that they can be interconnected with us."

"Well, tell a few warriors of your plan and they will make it happen." Chloe raised an eyebrow and Aniche nodded. "You are ruler now."

As she said this, a large drum-like instrument began beating out a rhythm. "Ah, the egwugwu is signaling to the other tribes that there is to be a meeting in the market. There, the warriors will announce to the other tribes that you have finally arrived. Come, do you have suitable clothing?" Chloe shook her head and Aniche looked to Jasmine, who also shook her head.

"Come with me." Aniche led the to a kind of antechamber and picked up two slim dresses made of striped Jackal fur.

"I would rather not wear that." Chloe murmured. "Do you have anything of leopard print?"

Aniche nodded and picked up a different dress. Chloe nodded and Aniche left so that she and Jasmine could change. Once clothed again, the girls looked each other over and nodded before moving back into the main part of the hut. They found the others waiting for them there in the same type of outfits. Paul was in nothing but warthog-hide shorts, Amy was in a leopard-print bra and skirt, Safire had on the same as Amy, except in elephant-skin, Raton wore jackal shorts, and Dimitri wore the same except his were made of wild dog hide. Meredith and Valentina had on matching hippopotamus skin-dresses. Felina was the only one to keep her normal clothes on.

"Why didn't you change?" Chloe asked curiously.

"I don't know how they would react to me." Felina said with a nonchalant shrug. "I figure, better play it safe than scary."

Chloe sighed, but nodded all the same and Aniche led them to the market with the others. When they arrived, the crowd of Nigerians and people of the surrounding areas of Niger, Cameroon and Benin parted to let them all through.

As they stood on a small podium, one of the warriors form Chloe's village began speaking. "Friends and enemies alike, you have all heard the news of the Uniter coming to our villages. Well, I am very proud to present her to you. From the village of Ambanta, we introduce our new leader, Chloe!" All of the warriors bowed to Chloe as the others in the crowd looked at her curiously.

Chloe ducked her head and blushed. "Hi." She said to them. "Uh, I'm Chloe and I'm from San Francisco. I was wondering if we could have a few warriors from all over so that they could go to the other Mai Prides in New York, Spain, France, Ukraine, Russia, and Hong Kong so that inter-Pride relations could get stronger. I need the human warriors to be careful in France because they tend to eat humans, but everywhere else is friendly. So, any volunteers?"

Numerous hands went up and Chloe looked at her friends for help. Felina, Jasmine and Raton stepped forward. "You three with the long spiky hair," Raton said, pointing to three different warriors.

"You with the long arms." Jasmine added, pointing out a man with large buff arms.

"You with the scar on your eye." Felina intoned, nodding at a man that had a jagged scar across his left eye. For the next thirty seconds, the three of them pointed out different warriors to go on the mission Chloe had assigned.

At last, they were finished and Chloe began speaking again. "Those of you who have been picked, please get ready to leave. Those of you who were not, stay behind to protect the villages and welcome the Mai coming from other countries. Are we all clear?"

Everyone replied in an uproar of 'aye' and Chloe smiled widely. She and her family stepped off of the podium and were escorted back to the village in which they'd come from.

"Does her majesty wish to sleep for a bit before dinner?" Aniche asked, walking beside Chloe.

"That would be wonderful, Aniche. Thank you. Will you send someone to wake me when it's time to cook?"

"Her majesty wishes to cook?" Aniche asked, taken aback.

"Of course, I love finding something to cook."

Aniche nodded and let Chloe alone. Chloe went back to the leader's hut and snuggled onto one of the beds there, falling asleep almost immediately.

* * *

**_There you go. Review and tell me what y'all think of it. This is the last update for now, but I'll be working on their trip to Brazil next. This should be FUN! n.n ;)_**


	29. Chapter 29

_**Sorry it's taken so long, but I can't upload during the month of December because it will mess up my Karma for next year. So, here is my New Year's gift to all of my fans of this story. Enjoy.**_

* * *

_**Chapter twenty-nine**_

Boarding the plane to head to Brazil, Chloe waved to her tribes. Many of her warriors had been sent out to tell the other tribes that Chloe was now their leader as well and Chloe had left Aniche in charge of the main tribe in Kano. Accompanied by four Nigerian warriors, two Hong Kong swordsmen, Safire, Dimitri, and Raton, the small group of seven had grown to a large group of sixteen.

Sitting in their seats, Chloe leaned her head on Jasmine's shoulder with a tired sigh. "How do you think the Brazilians will react?" the blonde asked.

"It won't be sunshine and roses, but they can't really do much to us; not with thirteen of us that know how to fight really well. All we can hope for is that they let us speak before trying to attack us."

Chloe looked up at her and said, "Lilah will want to kill me."

Jasmine nodded and slowly began stroking her hair. "I'll hold her off for you. There will be no Chloe-killing on my watch."

Chloe smiled in content and snuggled further into Jasmine. "Thanks, Jazzy." Chloe murmured.

"No Problem Chloe, Always here for you."

The two girls slowly fell asleep, too tired to think any more on the prospect of what could happen to them in Brazil. In the seats behind, beside and in front of the girls, the numerous couples and others were watching them with interest. "It's working!" Raton hissed in excitement.

"All we have to do is get the Brazilians to go along with the plan and there is no way Chloe will refuse Jasmine." Safire whispered.

"It will definitely prove once and for all that Jasmine is Chloe's chosen." Felina nodded.

"I wish we could just tell her about the prophecy." Dimitri said in exasperation.

"We all do." Meredith groaned.

"But we are sworn by Mai law, whether we are humans or Mai or even Jackals, that we cannot tell Chloe who her true mate is or else things might not go according to plan." Valentina sighed.

"So that is our Queen's chosen mate?" one of the Nigerian warriors asked.

"Yes," one of the Hong Kong swordsmen replied.

"Well then, let us hope that the Brazilians have not already found out." The warrior sighed. Everyone nodded in agreement.

"We should all probably get some sleep." Valentina suggested. "That way, if the Brazilians want to fight, we will all be at our best, including the humans." she added, shooting a look at Meredith. Those remaining awake agreed and most of them slowly settled down to sleep.

Felina and Dimitri continued watching the two girls; Felina had told Dimitri what could happen if they weren't watched closely while they slept. Sure enough, Chloe snuggled closer to Jasmine and wrapped her arms around the other girl. Jasmine wrapped Chloe in a protective embrace as well and snuggled her face into the blonde hair, sighing happily. As one, both girls whispered, "I love you." Felina and Dimitri looked at each other with wide eyes at this sudden admission, but they were the only ones to have heard because everyone else was asleep.

"Close watch?" Dimitri asked with a smile.

Felina nodded in agreement and said, "Close watch."

* * *

When the plane touched down in Sao Paulo, Amy and Paul were first to get off so they could stretch their tired limbs. Next off were the Nigerian and Hong Kong warriors followed closely by Raton, Safire, Valentina and Meredith. Chloe, Jasmine, Felina and Dimitri were the last to depart the plane and followed their friends and family to the airport.

"Does anyone know where the Brazilian Mai tribe resides?" Valentina inquired. Safire fidgeted and raised her hand.

"I thought you didn't know you were a Mai?" Felina said, her eyes narrowing in the mask.

"I didn't know what I was; I knew I was different than other humans." Safire replied. "They're in the Amazon forest."

"So we need to head to Imperatriz?" Chloe asked. Everyone turned to her in surprise and she said, "I looked up a map of Brazil a little while back in San Francisco. It looked like Imperatriz was the closest thing to the Amazon Jungle aside from Palmas. Or maybe that was actually _in_ the Jungle." Chloe sighed. "Either way, that's where we're headed?"

Safire nodded. "We need to go to Imperatriz by cab and then hike through the jungle to Manaus."

"We'll need supplies before we head out." Valentina told them. "We need to know which plants are most dangerous in the forest and which animals to stay far away from."

Safire nodded and led them out of the airport. She took them to a restaurant so that they could put their bags down. "The most common things to watch out for are the anaconda, the jaguars, cougars and any type of spider. You can drink in the river, but be careful how deep you put your hands because the piranhas might be in the deep parts. The electric eels aren't much of a bother because they've killed less and stunned more, but you might want to be wary of those anyway."

The others nodded and Paul asked, "So **all **spiders are bad? There are not even the ones that might just crawl on you and not bite?"

"No Paul," Safire said seriously. "Don't go near **any** of the spiders. ¿Comprendes?"

Paul nodded and Safire continued. "There are some plants that might be touchable, but still let me and a warrior go through the brush first, just in case. Any questions?"

Everyone sat in thought for a moment before Chloe raised her hand. "What about clothing?"

Safire sighed. "I would say that it's best to keep all of your clothes on completely, but the heat could make you pass out. So, it's probably best if the girls wear bras and short skirts and the guys wear shorts. I know a mixture to rub on your skin that will keep the insects away, but it might make you itch for the first hour."

Chloe looked uncomfortable at this and asked, "Can I wear a thin shirt instead?"

"Chloe, I'd rather you didn't get a heat stroke-."

"I'd like to keep a shirt too." Jasmine said softly, looking down at the table.

"But-."

Felina put a hand on Safire's shoulder and the two stared into each others' eyes for a moment. Their silent communication ended after a moment and Safire nodded. "Go ahead and wear the shirts girls, if it makes you more comfortable." Chloe and Jasmine nodded.

"Ok, now to talk about supplies." Valentina murmured.

Safire nodded and checked things off on her fingers. "We need sleeping bags for sure, matches, large canteens to hold water, visors, sunblock, knives, one of the warriors can bring an ax to chop firewood. Hm, am I missing something other than food?"

The others thought for another moment and shook their heads. "Why do we need knives?" Amy asked.

"Just in case something grabs onto you that doesn't want to let go." Safire said darkly, making Amy and Paul gulp.

"Well, I have matches and plenty of knives to go around." Felina said slowly.

"I have sunblock and visors." Meredith, Chloe and Amy added.

"I have eight canteens." Valentina declared.

"We have machetes." One of the warriors piped in.

"We have our swords." One of the swordsmen commented.

"And I can get the sleeping bags on sale." Safire finished.

"Alright, with that settled, where should we put the rest of our things for storage?"

Safire smiled. "An old friend owes me a favor. Let me just go get him." She stood and left the restaurant for a few minutes while the others began rummaging around so that they could separate the things they needed from the things they didn't need.

"Do we get service out in the forest?" Amy asked, glancing at her cell phone.

"Probably not." Valentina said.

"And you don't know if you might have to leave your skirt behind in case it was covered in something acidic so you might not want to bring it anyway." Jasmine added, tucking her own phone away. Amy sighed and Chloe giggled at her before putting her phone into her suitcase. Everyone had their overnight bags packed as Safire sauntered back in followed by a very frightened looking young man.

"Everyone, this is Alejandro. He is going to store your bags in a safe place so that we can pick them back up when we come back."

"How do we know they'll be safe?" Felina asked.

"A little, ah, extra persuasion." Safire said slyly.

"You didn't use the eye did you?" Raton groaned.

"Maybe." Safire replied, crossing her arms in triumph.

"Hermana, you know that could scare someone to death… and has!" Felina sighed.

"Well he's obviously still living." Safire said defensively. Her two younger siblings shook their heads and everyone followed Alejandro to a large garage to store their bags. "Don't forget, Alejandro." Safire growled at him and the man nodded vigorously.

"Everyone ready?" Valentina called. The group double checked their packs one last time before everyone replied in the affirmative.

"Then let's go." Safire led them to a kind of cab service that would take them all the way to Imperatriz. She paid the taxi drivers and everyone unloaded their things. "Since it's still early morning, does anyone want to head into the jungle?" Safire asked.

"Actually Safire," Meredith said. "Could we stop by a market and get some food first. We seem to be a bit low." Safire nodded and the group settled down to wait as she, Valentina, Meredith and two of the Nigerian warriors went off to go buy food supplies and fill the canteens. They came back twenty minutes later and both Safire and Valentina had angry expressions plastered to their faces.

"What happened?" Jasmine inquired.

"Some vendor didn't understand the concept of 'we're not interested' and we had to teach him a lesson on grabbing women." Safire growled.

"Who did he grab?" Chloe asked, her eyes narrowing dangerously.

"Me." Meredith sighed. Chloe growled lowly and stood, making to move in the direction they had just come from.

"Chloe, it's already been taken care of. One of the warriors was kind enough to break his hand when he wouldn't let go." Valentina told her, lifting her pack onto her back.

"Let's get going." Safire murmured. "I want to be in the forest before noon."

Meredith, Chloe, Felina and Jasmine distributed the food among them so that no one person had to carry it. As everyone lifted their packs onto their backs, Safire handed them each a large bottle of some greenish liquid. "What's this?" Paul asked as he watched Safire begin rubbing it on her skin.

"Insect repellent." Safire replied. "It works much better than manufactured repellent because this has the smell of a poisonous plant. Insects will think that you are a poisonous plant and will try to keep away." Paul nodded and put some on his arms, chest and such.

"Is everyone ready?" Safire asked and Chloe giggled at the question being asked once again.

"Let's go hiking." Safire said, leading the way into the jungle.


	30. Chapter 30

**_Here's the next chapter, you lot. Hope you like it and the next one should be up soon._**

* * *

_**Chapter thirty**_

Chloe looked around at all of the wildlife among the trees. There were monkeys swinging, squirrels gliding and snakes of all shape and color slithering up down and around tree trunks. "It's beautiful." she murmured, walking beside Jasmine as the older girl carried their canteen around her neck.

"It is." Jasmine agreed, watching two snakes intertwine with each other before moving away.

"It feels good to be back." Safire sighed happily. "It brings out the old instincts again. Come on!"

The others shared dubious looks as they followed her through the trees. Safire laughed as she ran through the trees and everyone had to jog to keep up; well, the Mai had to jog, the humans were at a slow run.

"Safire!" Felina shouted, jumping onto a tree and swinging in front of her sister. "Slow down; you have humans with you."

Safire nodded and slowed down a bit so that everyone could keep up. "Sorry," she chuckled. "I've just missed the underbrush so much. Don't get me wrong; I liked traveling the world with Chloe, but it's not as good as being in my natural habitat."

"Your natural habitat was Spain." Raton chuckled, jogging beside her.

"Home is where the heart is, little brother." Safire replied, playfully batting at him.

Chloe and the rest laughed as they watched the two and Felina jumped into another tree, beginning to swing back and forth from branch to branch as the group below jogged. Jasmine and Chloe glanced at each other. "That looks like fun!" Chloe exclaimed, watching Felina's knapsack swing against the cat woman's back.

"Let's give it a try." Jasmine shouted, climbing a tree like a lizard and beginning to swing as well. Chloe laughed at watching Jasmine jump from branch to branch and swiftly climbed a tree to join her. Dimitri watched them for a moment before giving a shrug and running to catch up with Raton and Safire, who had taken to almost racing each other, but doing it slowly enough that the humans could follow without exerting themselves too much. The six Mai looked to be having a lot of fun racing, jumping and swinging. At one point, Felina jumped up onto a branch, swung onto another and then did numerous flips as high as she could before resuming swinging again. When they stopped for a break about eight miles into the Jungle, it was roughly two p.m. and no one could stop laughing.

"I haven't had that much fun since I first realized my Mai abilities." Chloe giggled.

"Same here." The rest of the Mai cheered. All of the humans grinned at them and took a drink from the canteens.

"It makes your animal instincts come out again." Chloe sighed, looking around at all of the wildlife bustling around them.

"It does." Safire agreed. "That's why I loved being here so much. You can be free to do almost anything you please."

Chloe nodded and took a drink of the canteen Jasmine offered her. When everyone was refreshed again, Safire took up the lead and began making her way through the underbrush. Everyone was careful now, since they were getting deeper into the forest. Safire led them through numerous twists and turns that had Chloe's head spinning at trying to remember them all. At last, Safire sat them down to rest again. Chloe sank to her knees in gratitude and just stayed that way for a moment before glancing around. They were in a small clearing filled with gently blowing dandelions.

"Why are we here?" she asked Safire, who was unpacking her knapsack.

"We won't be able to reach the next clearing before nightfall." The other girl replied, setting out a blanket. "I need someone to go looking for large rocks to make a fireplace."

The Nigerian warriors set off into the trees in search of the rocks as Safire and Raton set about clearing a space to set the fire. Everyone else laid out their sleeping bags and settled down to rest a moment. The warriors were soon back with several small boulders and Safire instructed them on how best to arrange them. When that was finished, she set some large branches and clumps of moss in a pile in the circle of rocks, lit a match and set them on fire.

Everyone gathered around the flames eagerly and Chloe rummaged around before pulling out some sausages. "Anyone hungry?" she asked.

The others grinned at her and Safire took out sixteen long metal rods so they could cook the sausages. As they all ate, they listened to the forest around them. At last, it was time to sleep and Safire told everyone to sleep close to the fire pit.

"Why?" Amy asked.

"So that the animals and such don't come too close." Safire explained. "If they smell smoke, they won't come too close."

Chloe laid down next to Jasmine as the others settled down and the blonde stared up at the stars. Chloe thought about what could potentially happen to her if she tried to tell the Brazil Mai that she was their queen. _They could try to kill me_. The blonde thought. _They could injure me or put me in a coma. They could flat out refuse and order me off their land_. Different scenarios raced around Chloe's mind and they almost always ended in destruction, death and/or bloodshed. The Uniter sighed heavily as she watched the stars twinkle.

"What's the matter?" Jasmine whispered, low enough that the others couldn't hear.

"It's just… there are so many different things running through my head about what could happen. I mean, I killed one of their Mai; they're bound to want revenge for that and I'm not interested in the 'an eye for an eye' concept."

Jasmine took Chloe's hands into hers and began rubbing circles into the back of them to calm her friend down. "Chloe, Felina and I wouldn't dare let them touch you in any way that is even remotely harmful. Your lives are too important to be taken lightly. Felina would gladly give up seven of her remaining eight if it meant keeping you safe and you know that. I've put my life on the line for you numerous times because that's what I've been trained to do. My whole life, all I heard was 'protect others first, yourself very last'. Training to protect and defend is all I've ever known. You will be safe among the Brazil Mai; Felina and I won't leave your side for one second. We'll need the other Mai to protect the humans, but Felina and I will be with you. Alright?"

Chloe looked into the determined brown eyes opposite her own frightened blue ones and nodded, feeling more relaxed and a lot safer. "Thank you, Jasmine." Chloe murmured, staring at Jasmine as the other girl smiled reassuringly. Without realizing it, Chloe began leaning in, but as her lips were only inches from Jasmine's she quickly pulled away and blushed, looking down at the grassy ground.

"Sorry," she murmured, turning away from a very confused Jasmine and lying down to go to sleep. Jasmine watched Chloe for a moment longer before lying down as well and turning her back against Chloe's. Felina, Safire, Raton and Dimitri sat up and watched the girls for a moment.

"Am I the only one that just saw that?" Raton inquired, glancing at the other three.

"No, mi hermano menor," Safire told him. "We saw it too."

"Chloe was so close to giving in." Felina snarled in frustration. "We could have abandoned the plan completely and wouldn't have needed to bother with it." Dimitri patted her arm calmingly and Felina took a few deep breaths.

"Now we have to continue with it, don't we?" Raton sighed.

"Afraid so." Felina groaned.

The quartet nodded to each other and laid down to sleep. In the morning, Safire led them through the forestry once more. Chloe watched all of the woodland animals and plants fly, slither and crawl past her feet. They had been walking for about two and a half hours and must have gone at least five miles before everyone heard a scream. Glancing back, Chloe gasped at the large, black snake slowly winding its way around Amy's body.

"Amy," Safire said softly. "Don't move at all. Let me just unwrap it."

Amy whimpered in terror as she held perfectly still. Safire made her way over and slowly began unwrapping the anaconda from around Amy's stomach and lower abdomen. When she had finished unwrapping it, the large snake slithered away to go find something smaller to eat. Amy clung to Safire for a moment, crying softly as Safire shushed her. After a moment, Amy let go and wiped her eyes; Chloe wrapped her in a hug and the group continued forward. Chloe kept a close watch on Amy to make sure that the shorter girl calmed down a bit. Amy jumped at every little thing that moved or made a slight hissing sound and Chloe rubbed circles in her back to calm her down. At last, Safire stopped them to sit down for a break. Looking up at the sky, Chloe deduced that it was about half an hour until noon. Safire reached into her pack and handed everyone a peanut butter and jelly sandwich to snack on.

Chloe chewed slowly trying, for the millionth time that day, to stop thinking about the night before. _I could have kissed Jasmine._ The Uniter mused. _I could have ruined everything right then and there. She's one of my best friends, willing to protect me for anything and I nearly kissed her and blew all of that._ Chloe sighed and stared at the ground.

As she walked, Chloe found that she was walking into something that felt like mud, but kept tugging at her feet. At last, Chloe stopped thinking and glanced at the mixture, realizing that she was nearly knee-deep in it. "Quicksand!" She hissed. Gathering her breath, Chloe shouted, "HELP!"

She tried not to struggle too much as she took off her knapsack and tossed it to the edge of the large puddle. "I must have taken a wrong turn while thinking." Chloe mumbled, clawing at the muddy earth to try and perhaps swim to the edge; no luck. She heard footsteps and saw Felina, Safire and Jasmine racing toward her.

"How did you…?" Felina began, but Chloe shook her head and shrugged.

"Lili, help me tie these branches together." Safire shouted, using vine to secure branches to one another. Felina ran to help her sister while Jasmine focused on making Chloe calm.

"Chloe, it's going to be ok," the dark-haired girl said soothingly. "We're going to get you out, alright?" Chloe's breathing was going hectic and Jasmine was afraid she'd have a panic attack. "Chloe please," Jasmine pleaded. "At least try to slow your breathing."

Chloe nodded and took deep breaths as Felina and Safire finished. "Chloe, grab the stick!" Safire called as she and Felina held it out to their friend. Chloe grabbed the end of the stick and used it to pull herself toward the edge as Jasmine joined Felina and Safire in pulling her out. Chloe collapsed onto the ground for a moment and Safire knelt over her.

"Are you alright?" the older blonde asked gently.

"Y-yeah," Chloe replied, slowly sitting up. "Just a little shaken up. Come on, we'd better get going." Safire nodded and led them back to the others.

"You ok?" Paul asked Chloe, who nodded back at him and gave him a small smile.

Safire continued their trek through the forest and everyone was grateful for the chance to just move about. The day passed without much more event until Safire stopped them at another clearing just before sunset. Chloe gathered the materials for the fire while Dimitri and Felina went off to find firewood. The group sat around the fire, eating beans and talking amongst themselves about how long it would take them to get out.

"Since we're moving faster than a normal group would, it will probably take us about three days." Safire was explaining to Valentina and Meredith with some of the warriors and the Hong Kong Mai listening nearby. "Tomorrow, we should cross the Amazon River. After that, we are in Brazilian Mai territory and should therefore be careful. They will have scouts posted and they will probably know we are coming before we get there. When we enter Manaus, I want you all to stay close to me. They do not welcome outsiders very well and we will have to fight some of their best warriors in order to be granted access to the village."

Valentina nodded. "So our strongest should be in front?"

Safire shook her head. "They could have people coming from all sides. The humans should go in the middle with the swordsmen at the back and the Nigerian warriors in the front. That way, they can't catch us off guard with an attack."

"These Mai sound even more vicious than the French Mai." Meredith whispered.

"They are." Safire murmured, poking a stick into the fire. "I stayed with them for three months before heading back out into the Jungle. I didn't like the way they treated humans and I still don't."

Chloe glanced over at the group of people conversing and asked, "What are they talking about?"

Jasmine glanced at her from looking at fireflies. "They're trying to figure out how best to approach the Brazilian Mai village." The tanned girl replied, looking back at the fireflies.

"So that we don't get attacked?" Chloe asked timidly.

"Yes." Jasmine responded, laying back on her sleeping bag to stare at the stars. Chloe looked over to Jasmine and saw the other girl looking at the sky. Chloe laid down beside her and looked at the sky as well.

"The stars are beautiful in the forest." Jasmine murmured.

"Mhm." Chloe agreed, snuggling a little closer to Jasmine. "No city lights to block most of them out." Jasmine chuckled and slid an arm around Chloe.

The blonde looked up at her and smiled. "Thank you, Jazzy," Chloe said. "For everything you're doing for me. I mean, you could 1have chosen to stay behind in San Francisco and given the job of taking care of me to someone else, but you chose to come with me."

Jasmine shrugged and looked down at her. "I swore on Bastet that I would protect the Uniter if I ever got the chance to meet them in my lifetime. I'm protecting you as best I can."

"And you're doing a great job." Chloe whispered.

Jasmine smiled and Chloe snuggled into her side as Jasmine began stroking her hair. Slowly, the blonde fell asleep and Jasmine looked around. The adults were still talking and Amy, Paul, Dimitri, Raton and Felina were all asleep. Slowly getting up, Jasmine snuck away and climbed a tree to almost the very top. Sitting on a really sturdy branch, she sat in thought, looking over the clearing.

_Chloe tried to kiss me last night, but changed her mind. Does that mean that she feels something for me or was she just feeling the moment? My head is so sore from all this thinking and the stupid scar on my stomach is bugging me. I just wish Chloe would make a choice so that I can either be her girlfriend or concentrate fully on protecting her; she keeps giving me all these mixed signals and it's beginning to emotionally wear me down. _

Jasmine sighed and just stared at the sleeping figure of Chloe for a moment before shaking her head. _I just need to concentrate on protecting her whether she sends me mixed signals or not. It shouldn't matter because either way, I'd still die as long as she was safe._

Nodding to herself at this, Jasmine stood up on the branch, carefully balanced her weight and jumped back into the clearing beside Chloe. All heads shot to her for a moment, but Jasmine ignored them and slipped back into her sleeping bag. Snuggling closer to Chloe, Jasmine breathed in her sweet scent and drifted to sleep. For the next day and a half, Safire led the group through the thickest patches of the jungle. They encountered a cougar at one point, but once it sniffed out the Mai it nodded to them and slunk away.

"Cats have to stick together." Jasmine chuckled as Chloe watched the big cat move away. Safire slowed them down as they neared the Amazon River and told them to take out their knives. Walking cautiously, Safire nodded at the lack of activity near the water.

"Stay close to me," she ordered as she slowly made her way out into the water.

Everyone walked in single file as they crossed the elbow-length water. While they were wading through, Chloe's stomach twisted into a deep knot as she and Jasmine neared the middle. Suddenly, Jasmine convulsed and screamed in pain. Safire turned from where she was near the bank and gasped as blood began pooling in the area.

"Everyone out! NOW!" she screamed, rushing back into the river.

As one, the group began hurrying to the other end of the river, while Chloe held Jasmine. Chloe felt a sharp pain in her hand, but didn't dare let go of her friend in fear Jasmine would pass out and drown. Safire hastened back to the middle and took Jasmine in her arms.

"Come on, Chloe." The older girl commanded, taking her arm and guiding her out of the water too. Chloe held her hand above water as Safire guided her out of the water. Once they were safely on shore, Safire set Jasmine down and made Chloe sit down as well.

"What happened?" Valentina demanded, staring at the gash in Jasmine side.

"The piranhas." Safire murmured, grabbing some nearby leaves and using them to cover Jasmine's wound. She looked around for a moment and grabbed a spider's web hanging from a tree, plastering it over the leaves so that they would stick.

Once Jasmine was finished, Safire turned to Chloe and saw the blonde nursing a bloody hand. "They must have bitten you when they were trying to get to Jasmine." Safire mused, taking Chloe's hand. Felina reached into her pack and brought out a first aid kit.

Helping Safire patch up Chloe's hand, Felina sighed. "I never did like fish with teeth." she growled. Chloe chuckled lightly and flexed her hand, testing it to make sure she could still use it.

"Don't exert it too much for the next five hours and it should be fine." Safire informed her. "Your bite wasn't very deep and neither was Jasmine's. Are you fit to walk or are you dizzy."

"I think I'll be ok." Chloe murmured, slowly standing. Safire nodded and she and Felina helped Jasmine to her feet.

"On the bright side," Safire said slowly, trying to lighten the mood. "That was the toughest part of getting through the forest. "But it's not going to be the toughest thing we face."

Looking up, Safire spotted someone looking at them through the trees and nodded to herself. "The scout's have spotted us. Let's get going."

The group pressed forward once more. Chloe felt the sting in her hand and resisted the urge to cry at the pain it caused. _Jasmine's in more pain than you are. _Chloe told herself. _Be strong for her so that she doesn't feel too bad about being in pain._

"How do you feel?" Chloe asked a slightly panting Jasmine.

"I'll be better in a few hours." Jasmine shrugged.

"Sorry about the piranhas." Chloe murmured. "I got the feeling something would go wrong. I should have warned you, but I thought it was more likely to happen to me than you since I seem to draw in so many enemies."

Jasmine shrugged once more. "You couldn't control the situation. Thank you for not leaving me though."

Now it was Chloe's turn to shrug. "You promised to protect me; it would be rude not to protect you when I saw fit. It's just like when your face accidentally got poisoned."

Jasmine smiled. "Yeah, what fun times in the city of love, huh?" They laughed happily as everyone crossed a small ditch. As soon as each of the Mai crossed the ditch, they smelled a slightly different scent in the air.

"They mark their territory?" Chloe asked in disgust.

"Yup," Safire replied. "And their scent is different from normal Mai because of their blatant disregard to the human race. Theirs is much like the scent of the French Mai. They didn't care for human kind and therefore have different scents than the rest of the Mai. Just a bit further. We'll be at the edge of the village of Manaus in just a few hours."

The group sped up, eager to be out of the forest that seemed like a death trap. After an hour and a half, Chloe cocked her head and listened. Something or someone was following them; it sounded like a normal animal creature, but as Chloe listened further, she didn't hear the padding of four paws, but only two feet.

"Just through here should be Manaus," Safire murmured, making to push aside some large ferns.

As she was pushing them aside, the Nigerian warriors moved to the front of the group as the swordsmen moved to the back and Raton, Safire, Jasmine, Chloe, Dimitri and Felina moved to the sides. Valentina, Meredith, Amy and Paul huddled close together between them. As soon as they all stepped out of the ferns, warriors dropped onto all sides of them and one of them hissed. "It's the Uniter!"

Chloe moved further out in front than the rest and stood with a relaxed stance. "Hey," she said.

Another figure stepped out of the waiting Mai and dropped into a hunting crouch. "I'm going to kill you, Chloe King." With that, the figure jumped forward to attack. Jasmine ran up and intercepted the figure, making them both roll a little ways away. As Chloe watched, Jasmine pinned the person to the ground.

"Get off of me!" the figure screamed.

"No Lilah. You can't hurt Chloe." Jasmine said calmly, putting her full weight on the girl.

"She killed Nikki." Lilah hissed. "She can't just walk in here after doing that."

Chloe walked over and knelt next to her. "I didn't mean to kill Nikki and you know it. I tried to get her to stop fighting, but she continued trying to hit me with a pole. All I did was duck and she sealed her own fate." Lilah spat at her and Chloe stepped away. Jasmine's eyes flashed and she stepped off the other girl to make sure Chloe was fine.

"That's nasty." Chloe muttered, wiping her face.

Lilah stood and glared at Chloe, crossing her arms. "What do you want, anyway?" she demanded.

"I want to speak to your leader so we can tell them about the new… development in the prophecy." Chloe said bitterly, assuming the same stance.

"What makes you think we're going to let you through without a test?" Lilah smirked.

"If you want a fight, bring it." Chloe growled.

"Did you not see that you're clearly outnumbered?" Lilah's smirk grew, but a feral one made it's way onto Chloe's face.

"Yes, but you are clearly outmatched."

Lilah growled and lunged at Chloe once more as the fighting began.


	31. Chapter 31

_**Sorry it's so short, but there was no other plausible way to switch the story. I guess this is sort of a stepping stone, but you're in for a real treat next chapter. For now, enjoy this one.**_

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_**Thirty-one**_

Lilah and Chloe smashed chest-first into each other and bounced back, circling as they snarled at each other. While they were circling like wolves, Felina, Jasmine, Dimitri, Raton, Safire, two of the Nigerian warriors and a Hong Kong swordsman jumped into action, doing hand to hand combat and weapons fighting with the other Mai surrounding them. They were outnumbered four to one, but with the training they each had, it was no trouble taking down the warriors. Felina simply gave each of her combatants a sharp blow to the head to knock them unconscious before doing the same with a particularly stealthy Mai attacking Raton. Safire and Dimitri were locked in heavy hand to hand combat when Felina and Raton joined them; Raton accompanied Safire while Felina assisted Dimitri. Together they took down most of the warriors around them.

The warriors and the swordsmen were dueling out their battles and didn't seem to be needing any help, but Jasmine's piranha bite was impeding her fighting ability. She had managed to knock out the majority of her attackers, but the last one just wouldn't stay down. He had gotten a nasty blow in and Jasmine's eye was beginning to bruise, but she had scratched him along his cheek in retaliation. Safire and Raton came in from the back as Dimitri and Felina advanced from the sides and together, they surrounded him.

The warrior looked around warily and decided to head for Felina, obviously thinking she was weakest since she was disguised most. He barreled into her and they rolled away from the group. He was pounding at her face and chest, but Felina managed to successfully block each of his blows. At last, the man pulled off her mask in an effort to stun her; instead, he had sealed his own fate.

"Don't," Felina growled, kicking the Mai in the stomach.

"Touch," She delivered a hard blow to his chin, making him stumble.

"My," Grabbing the man by the collar, Felina glared into his eyes.

"**MASK**!" She head-butted him as hard as she could and there was a sickening crack as the man slumped to the ground. Glancing around, she found everyone staring at her and hurriedly stooped to pick up her mask and slip it back on. Lilah returned her attention to Chloe and smirked.

"You hang around with a freak show?" she inquired, hoping to strike a nerve.

"That _**freak show**_ is much more beautiful than any other Mai in the world. So if she's a freak, what are you?" Lilah growled and charged Chloe, pulling her fist back to punch.

Chloe ducked the first punch and caught the second. "Hm, a bit touchy in the beauty department. Did you think about seeing a counselor for self-esteem issues?" Lilah wrenched her fist away and aimed a kick at Chloe's stomach.

Chloe skittered backwards away from the foot and smirked, crossing her arms. "I'll take that as a no. Did Nikki see a counselor? She probably didn't have to; she seemed pretty confident when she was attacking me."

Lilah ran at Chloe and tried to punch her again, but this time, Chloe pulled her own fist back and her punch met the Brazilian's. There was a sickening crunch and a scream of agony as Lilah fell to her knees.

Chloe shook out her hand to ease the sting and murmured, "That hurt more than I thought it would."

Lilah jumped back to her feet and tried to punch Chloe again, but Chloe moved out of the way and kicked the other girl back. Lilah became more and more frustrated as Chloe continued blocking her attacks and landing retaliations. Finally, the Brazilian just snapped and ran at Chloe once more, her attacks coming faster and harder than before. Chloe smiled as she continued blocking the many attacks still being aimed at her, but one in particular caught her in the stomach and made her move back a bit.

"Not so tough now that your little protector can't help you." Lilah snarled, landing a hard punch to Chloe's jaw, but not succeeding in doing much other than causing a slight streak of blood on Chloe's lip.

"Where's Brian these days?" Lilah inquired, grabbing Chloe by the collar and delivering another punch. "Still unable to date him? Pity, I would have gotten all I could from him before he just died." Chloe's eyes were slowly turning green and Lilah was taking pleasure in her anger.

"Then I probably would have moved to your Protector's cousin. What was his name? Blonde hair, sharp features, brooding type of guy? Oh yes, Alek." Chloe felt her teeth lengthening and sharpening as the anger bubbled in her stomach, but she had to control it as she took the beating.

"Of course, in my opinion, the Protector herself would have been a much better catch. Firm muscles, skilled hands, and nice body. Jasmine is a prize totally worth fighting for. Though why she's interested in you, I'll never know. She's too hot and spicy to be hanging around- ACK!"

Chloe's hand had come up and clasped around Lilah's throat. The anger had finally gotten the better of her and Chloe was going to let it run itself out. Delivering blows in quick succession to Lilah's jaw, Chloe slammed the Brazilian into the ground and straddled her stomach, teeth bared as she continued beating her. Lilah reached up and punched Chloe, making the blonde roll off of her. Lilah jumped to her feet as Chloe landed in a cat-like pose. Lilah ran at Chloe and the Uniter charged to meet her; they crashed into each other, claws scratching and tearing as teeth gnashed and bit on anything sensitive they could find. The two girls were just a tangle of flesh, blood and claws as the others watched in awe.

"What did you train her to do?" Valentina asked her daughter as Chloe swung Lilah around by her wrist.

"Not that, if it makes you feel any better." Jasmine replied, cringing as Chloe slammed Lilah into the ground again.

Lilah grabbed Chloe's arm and slammed her to the ground as well, but Chloe kicked her in the stomach as the Brazilian tried to stand, causing her to slide a few feet. Chloe did a backflip and landed on her feet as Lilah did the same. As the two charged each other once more, Chloe jumped into the air and did a spinning kick to Lilah's chest that sent the brunette slamming into a tree.

The other girl slumped to the ground and Chloe growled, "Brian's dead, Alek's dead, Jasmine is _mine_ and that **freak show** is my _cousin_."

Lilah shook her head and snarled at Chloe, which the older girl returned wholeheartedly. As Lilah was about to get up and try again, a voice rang out around them and everyone froze. "_What is going on here?_"


	32. Chapter 32

_**Last chapter of this story, y'all. Don't worry, the next story should be posted today too, but first, a girl has to be true on her promises. Check out my other new stories as well. Thanks for the support!**_

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_**Thirty-two**_

All heads turned as a tall woman with long black hair and tanned features stepped through the crowd that had formed. Black eyes surveyed the scene before them before focusing on Chloe. "What are you?" she sniffed in disgust.

Chloe's anger was still roaring through her and it made her a bit bolder than she normally would be. "The Queen of Mai, your Uniter, and extremely angry. What are you supposed to be?"

The woman's eyes narrowed and her eyes shifted from black to blue. "How dare you speak to me that way, tú puta pequeno? I ought to shred your hair off."

Chloe snarled at her and hissed, "Go ahead and try. You won't have eyes once I'm finished with you."

The woman glared at Chloe as they both shifted into a fighting crouch. Chloe's stomach was telling her not to make the first move and so she simply glared at the woman before her. The two stared at each other for several long movements before a smile tugged at the corners of the woman's mouth and she straightened up. Chloe held her fighting crouch as the woman walked closer. "It is nice to finally meet a worthy opponent. I guess I should say it is nice to finally meet you, Chloe King. I am Francesca Vasquez."

Chloe warily stood straight and clasped the other woman's hand. As soon as she did so, she found herself flying through the air toward the ground, but she maneuvered herself so that she landed on her feet and swung the woman toward the ground. The woman slammed to the ground with a loud grunt and lay there for a moment before standing once more.

Brushing herself off, Francesca nodded to Chloe and smirked. "I like your moves and your attitude. Welcome to the Pride."

"Excuse me?" Chloe growled.

"You wanted to be initiated, right? You're in the Pride."

Chloe shook her head. "I wanted to come and solve your problems with the humans, not get initiated into the Pride. The Pride automatically belongs to me."

"What?" Francesca raised an eyebrow questioningly and Chloe sighed. "According to the prophecy, I'm supposed to be… queen… of all Mai and humans."

Francesca snorted derisively and Chloe cocked an eyebrow at her. "You don't really believe the prophecy do you?" The older woman inquired. "It's a hoax to get your confidence built."

Chloe stared at her before turning a head toward Valentina quizzically. The tan woman stepped forward and Francesca's head whipped toward her. "You brought humans." Chloe's skin crawled at the purr that entered Francesca's voice.

"Four to be exact." Chloe said coolly.

"Mm, gifts are always welcome in the Pride, Ms. King." Francesca continued purring as she made her way closer to Valentina. "Slim, hard-muscled, strong will… Can I have this one?"

"No!" Meredith and Jasmine hissed at the same time.

"She's my mother!" Jasmine growled as Meredith stepped up to Valentina's side possessively.

"Ooh, feisty." Francesca's eyes were curving downward as she watched Valentina and Meredith.

"They aren't gifts." Chloe snarled, moving over to the older woman in three quick strides. "They're my family."

"You're in a family of humans?" Francesca asked softly.

"My mother is human, my best friends are human and my Protector's mother is human. My cousins are Mai, as is Felina's boyfriend. Now back off."

Francesca stared longingly at Valentina, but a cold glare from Meredith made her turn back to Chloe. "What's this riffraff about you being the Queen of all Mai and Humans?"

Chloe shrugged. "The prophecy said that I was to become queen once the humans and Mai were one with each other and the Prides were all united together."

Francesca gave a snort of laughter. "Unite the Prides?" she snickered. "¡Hay estupido! The Prides despise each other to the point of attack. Why do you think there is no Pride in England? The French and Spain Prides wiped it out long ago. There will be no strong feelings among the Mai Prides; there will always be mutual hatred."

Chloe set her jaw and glared at the woman. "Not while I'm living. After I'm long dead, then maybe, but not around me."

Francesca rolled her eyes and gestured to them. "Come along, we will find you some cabins to sleep in."

Chloe and the others followed Francesca, but after a moment, Chloe glanced back and saw Felina being blocked by the guards. They seemed reluctant to let her pass and Chloe was having none of that. Handing her knapsack to Jasmine, Chloe jogged back to the guards and took Felina's hand. The guards tried to stop them both, but Chloe grabbed one by the color and pushed him out of the way.

She guided Felina back to the group and Francesca rubbed her chin curiously. "Who is this?" she asked.

"My cousin Felina." Chloe replied.

"Why does she wear a mask?"

"Why don't you ask her?"

Francesca's eyes narrowed, but she turned to Felina. "I'd rather not take it off, Señora." Felina murmured. "I think your warriors have seen enough of my face for now."

"Yes, quite the hideous face too." A brave, brown-haired boy piped in, snickering with his friend.

Felina's head lowered as Chloe, Jasmine, Safire and Raton growled at the boy. Dimitri was the only one to strike, though; he walked over to the other Mai and picked him up by his collar. "Do not speak of her that way for as long as you live or the entirety of Ukraine will be on your tail, pussy cat."

Dimitri dropped him with a growl and strode over to Felina's side. The cat woman looked at him and Dimitri smiled at her, fingering the hem of her mask. "May I?" he whispered.

"Be my guest." Felina murmured, ducking her head as Dimitri removed her mask and kissed her forehead.

Francesca watched the two with interest before turning and motioning for them to follow her. The leader of the Brazilian Mai showed them to four cabins and gave them a wave. "Dinner is in an hour." She cooed to them, shooting Valentina a wink. Meredith growled under her breath and pulled Valentina closer to her.

"I think at least two Mai should stay with each of the humans." Safire murmured lowly so that none of the Brazilian Mai could overhear. "The Nigerian Warriors can stay on their own as Can Felina, Jasmine, Chloe and I. Raton and Dimitri should protect Valentina while the two Hong Kong Mai protect Amy and Paul. Is everyone good with that plan?"

The others thought on it and agreed that it was effective. Separating to their separate cabins, the group set their knapsacks on the beds sat beside them. Chloe glanced at Jasmine and saw the other girl doubled over. Slowly striding over, Chloe put a tentative hand on the other girls shoulder. Jasmine hissed and batted her hand away before seeing who it was.

"Sorry," Jasmine murmured, sad at the hurt in Chloe's eyes. "I'm just a little… tense."

Chloe sat down next to her and nodded. "They're scary to think about. How's your eye?"

"Not poisoned at least." Jasmine said lightly, trying to brighten the mood.

Chloe gave her a small smile and they stood. "Let's go look around the village for a bit."

Jasmine nodded and they waved to the other two girls as they left. Chloe looked around at the small marketplace and semi-large houses that adorned the place and smiled, leading Jasmine up the main street.

* * *

Meanwhile, Felina and Safire were going to meet Raton and Dimitri so that they could also have a look around, but for a different reason. Moving over to the cabin housing Valentina and Meredith, the girls knocked three times. Valentina opened the door and gestured for them to come in.

"So they're not with you?" Meredith asked slowly.

"They went to go check out the area." Safire replied, sitting cross-legged on the floor.

"Good." Valentina nodded. "We'll need to take extra care in finding someone who can help us."

"Actually," Safire murmured. "I think I know the purrfect person to help. It may take a moment for her to help us, but she'll do it, of that I am sure."

Felina stared at her sister incredulously. "You don't mean…?"

"Yes, I do. Come on."

The six of them headed out of the cabin and through the roads of Manaus. They searched back and forth for the person they needed and finally found her sitting outside the infirmary. When she caught sight of them, Lilah snarled and stood in a defensive position.

"Easy," Safire told her. "We don't want to hurt you."

"Then why are you here?" the girl growled.

"Because there's someone we want **you** to hurt." Safire replied.

"Oh really?" Lilah raised an eyebrow. "And who might that be?"

Safire took a breath before saying, "Chloe and Jasmine."

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_**Everybody in the crowd says "Whaaaa?" Uh-huh, oh yeah! I know, cliffhanger, but the last one ended that way too didn't it? The next story is going to be called THE BEGINNING and should be posted later today. Thanks y'all and I hope you liked it. **_


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